Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The multiple faces of the entrepreneurial university: a review of the prevailing theoretical approaches

  • Published:
The Journal of Technology Transfer Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The importance and the definition of an entrepreneurial university (EU), together with the factors that lead to its existence, have been widely discussed in the literature. Moreover, in recent years, the EU has also been the target of some public policies. This study aims to identify the different theoretical approaches to entrepreneurial universities prevalent in the literature. Using information from the Web of Science database, we performed a co-citation bibliometric analysis, which made it possible to identify six distinct EU approaches: the triple helix model, the knowledge society model, the global perspective, the researcher-entrepreneur model, the dual personality approach, and also a frenzied approach.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Graph 1
Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Graph 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abreu, M., Demirel, P., Grinevich, V., & Karataş-Özkan, M. (2016). Entrepreneurial practices in research-intensive and teaching-led universities. Small Business Economics, 47(3), 695–717.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ankrah, S. N., Burgess, T. F., Grimshaw, P., & Shaw, N. E. (2013). Asking both university and industry actors about their engagement in knowledge transfer: What single-group studies of motives omit. Technovation, 33(2–3), 50–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Audretsch, D. (2007). The entrepreneurial society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Audretsch, D. B. (2014). From the entrepreneurial university to the university for the entrepreneurial society. Journal of Technology Transfer, 39(3), 313–321.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baldini, N. (2010). Do royalties really foster university patenting activity? An answer from Italy. Technovation, 30(2), 109–116.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boardman, P. C., & Ponomariov, B. L. (2009). University researchers working with private companies. Technovation, 29(2), 142–153.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bramwell, A., & Wolfe, D. A. (2008). Universities and regional economic development: The entrepreneurial University of Waterloo. Research Policy, 37(8), 1175–1187.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chabowski, B., Kekec, P., Morgan, N. A., Hult, G. T. M., Walkowiak, T., & Runnalls, B. (2018). An assessment of the exporting literature: Using theory and data to identify future research directions. Journal of InternationalMarketing, 26, 118–143.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chang, Y.-C., Yang, P. Y., & Chen, M.-H. (2009). The determinants of academic research commercial performance: Towards an organizational ambidexterity perspective. Research Policy, 38(6), 936–946.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, B. R. (1998). The entrepreneurial university: Demand and response. Tertiary Tertiary Education and management, 4, 5–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Colombo, M. G., & Piva, E. (2012). Firms’ genetic characteristics and competence-enlarging strategies: A comparison between academic and non-academic high-tech start-ups. Research Policy, 41(1), 79–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cooke, P. (2005). Regionally asymmetric knowledge capabilities and open innovation exploring ‘Globalisation 2’—A new model of industry organisation. Research Policy, 34(8), 1128–1149.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Czarnitzki, D., Glanzel, W., & Hussinger, K. (2009). Heterogeneity of patenting activity and its implications for scientific research. Research Policy, 38(1), 26–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davies, J. L. (1987). The entrepreneurial and adaptive university. Report of the second US study visit. International Journal of Institutional Management in Higher Education, 11(1), 12–104.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deem, R. (1998). ‘New managerialism’ and higher education: The management of performances and cultures in universities in the United Kingdom. International Studies in Sociology of Education, 8(1), 47–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deem, R. (2001). Globalisation, New Managerialism, Academic Capitalism and Entrepreneurialism in Universities: Is the local dimension still important? Comparative Education, 37(1), 7–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • D’Este, P., & Perkmann, M. (2011). Why do academics engage with industry? The entrepreneurial university and individual motivations. Journal of Technology Transfer, 36(3), 316–339.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Di Guardo, M. C., & Harrigan, K. R. (2012). Mapping research on strategic alliances and innovation: A co-citation analysis. Journal of Technology Transfer, 37, 789–811.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dongmei Zha, T. C., Foroundi, M., & Jin, Z. (2020). An assessment of brand experience knowledge literature: Using bibliometric data to identify future research direction. International Journal of Management Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijmr.12226.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Etzkowitz, H. (1983). Entrepreneurial scientists and entrepreneurial universities in american academic science. Minerva, 21(2–3), 198–233. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf01097964.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Etzkowitz, H. (1998). The norms of entrepreneurial science: Cognitive effects of the new university–industry linkages. Research Policy, 27(8), 823–833.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Etzkowitz, H. (2003a). Innovation in innovation: The Triple Helix of university–industry–government relations. Social Science Information Sur Les Sciences Sociales, 42(3), 293–337.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Etzkowitz, H. (2003b). Research groups as `quasi-firms’: The invention of the entrepreneurial university. Research Policy, 32(1), 109–121.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Etzkowitz, H. (2013). Anatomy of the entrepreneurial university. Social Science Information Sur Les Sciences Sociales, 52(3), 486–511.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Etzkowitz, H., & Klofsten, M. (2005). The innovating region: Toward a theory of knowledge-based regional development. R&D Management, 35(3), 243–255.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Etzkowitz, H., & Leydesdorff, L. (1997). Introduction to special issue on science policy dimensions of the Triple Helix of university–industry–government relations. Science and Public Policy, 24(1), 2–5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Etzkowitz, H., Webster, A., Gebhardt, C., & Terra, B. R. C. (2000). The future of the university and the university of the future: Evolution of ivory tower to entrepreneurial paradigm. Research Policy, 29(2), 313–330.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fernandes, C., Ferreira, J. J., Raposo, M. L., Estevao, C., Peris-Ortiz, M., & Rueda, C. (2017). The dynamic capabilities perspective of strategic management: A co-citation analysis. Scientometrics, 112(1), 529–555.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferreira, J., Fernandes, C., & Ratten, V. (2016). A co-citation bibliometric analysis of strategic management research. Scientometrics, 109(1), 1–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gibb, A., & Hannon, P. (2006). Towards the entrepreneurial university. International Journal of Entrepreneurship Education, 4(1), 73–110.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guerrero, M., Cunningham, J. A., & Urbano, D. (2015). Economic impact of entrepreneurial universities’ activities: An exploratory study of the United Kingdom. Research Policy, 44(3), 748–764.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guerrero, M., & Urbano, D. (2012). The development of an entrepreneurial university. Journal of Technology Transfer, 37(1), 43–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guerrero, M., Urbano, D., Cunningham, J., & Organ, D. (2014). Entrepreneurial universities in two European regions: A case study comparison. The journal of technology Transfer, 39(3), 415–434.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guerrero, M., Urbano, D., & Fayolle, A. (2016). Entrepreneurial activity and regional competitiveness: Evidence from European entrepreneurial universities. The Journal of Technology Transfer, 41(1), 105–131.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hakala, J. (2009). The future of the academic calling? Junior researchers in the entrepreneurial university. Higher Education, 57(2), 173–190. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-008-9140-6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harrison, R. T., & Leitch, C. (2010). Voodoo Institution or Entrepreneurial University? Spin-off Companies, the Entrepreneurial System and Regional Development in the UK. Regional Studies, 44(9), 1241–1262.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heffernan, T., & Poole, D. (2005). In search of “the vibe’’: Creating effective international education partnerships. Higher Education, 50(2), 223–245.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hong, W., & Walsh, J. P. (2009). For money or glory? Commercialization, competition, and secrecy in the entrepreneurial university. Sociological Quarterly, 50(1), 145–171.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huggins, R., & Izushi, H. (2007). The knowledge competitiveness of regional economies: Conceptualisation and measurement. Bank of Valletta Review, 35, 1–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jacob, M., Lundqvist, M., & Hellsmark, H. (2003). Entrepreneurial transformations in the Swedish University system: The case of Chalmers University of Technology. Research Policy, 32(9), 1555–1568.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kalar, B., & Antoncic, B. (2015). The entrepreneurial university, academic activities and technology and knowledge transfer in four European countries. Technovation, 36–37, 1–11.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kirby, D. A. (2006). Creating entrepreneurial universities in the UK: Applying entrepreneurship theory to practice. The Journal of Technology Transfer, 31(5), 599–603.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kirby, D. A., Urbano, D., & Guerrero, M. (2011). Making universities more entrepreneurial: Development of a model. Canadian Journal Of Administrative Sciences-Revue Canadienne Des Sciences De L Administration, 28(3, SI), 302–316.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lam, A. (2010). From `ivory tower traditionalists’ to `entrepreneurial scientists’? Academic scientists in fuzzy university–industry boundaries. Social Studies of Science, 40(2), 307–340.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lazzeretti, L., & Tavoletti, E. (2005). Higher education excellence and local economic development: The case of the entrepreneurial university of twente. European Planning Studies, 13(3), 475–493.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leydesdorff, L., & Meyer, M. (2010). The decline of university patenting and the end of the Bayh–Dole effect. Scientometrics, 83(2), 355–362.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martinelli, A., Meyer, M., & von Tunzelmann, N. (2008). Becoming an entrepreneurial university? A case study of knowledge exchange relationships and faculty attitudes in a medium-sized, research-oriented university. Journal of Technology Transfer, 33(3), 259–283.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meoli, M., Paleari, S., & Vismara, S. (2013). Completing the technology transfer process: M&As of science-based IPOs. Small Business Economics, 40(2), 227–248.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Metcalfe, A. S. (2010). Revisiting academic capitalism in canada: No longer the exception. Journal of Higher Education, 81(4), 489–514.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meyer, M. (2006a). Are patenting scientists the better scholars? An exploratory comparison of inventor-authors with their non-inventing peers in nano-science and technology. Research Policy, 35(10), 1646–1662.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meyer, M. (2006b). Knowledge integrators or weak links? An exploratory comparison of patenting researchers with their non-inventing peers in nano-science and technology. Scientometrics, 68(3), 545–560.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meyer, M., Sinilainen, T., & Utecht, J. T. (2003). Towards hybrid Triple Helix indicators: A study of university-related patents and a survey of academic inventors. Scientometrics, 58(2), 321–350.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mian, S. A. (1994). United-States university-sponsored technology incubators: An overview of management, policies and performance. Technovation, 14(8), 515–528.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Migliori, S., Pittino, D., Consorti, A., & Lucianetti, L. (2019). The relationship between entrepreneurial orientation, market orientation and performance in university spin-offs. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 15(3), 793–814.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, K., McAdam, M., & McAdam, R. (2014). The changing university business model: A stakeholder perspective. R& D Management, 44(3), 265–287.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Motohashi, K. (2005). University–industry collaborations in Japan: The role of new technology-based firms in transforming the national innovation system. Research Policy, 34(5), 583–594.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • OECD. (2012). A guiding framework for entrepreneurial universities. http://www.oecd.org/site/cfecpr/EC-OECD%20Entrepreneurial%20Universities%20Framework.pdf. Accessed date 13 January 2019.

  • O’Shea, R. P., Allen, T. J., Morse, K. P., O’Gorman, C., & Roche, F. (2007). Delineating the anatomy of an entrepreneurial university: The Massachusetts Institute of Technology experience. R&D Management, 37(1), 1–16.

    Google Scholar 

  • Philpott, K., Dooley, L., O’Reilly, C., & Lupton, G. (2011). The entrepreneurial university: Examining the underlying academic tensions. Technovation, 31(4, SI), 161–170.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ranga, L. M., Debackere, K., & von Tunzelmann, N. (2003). Entrepreneurial universities and the dynamics of academic knowledge production: A case study of basic vs. applied research in Belgium. Scientometrics, 58(2), 301–320.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rasmussen, E. A., & Sorheim, R. (2006). Action-based entrepreneurship education. Technovation, 26(2), 185–194.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sam, C., & Van der Sijde, P. (2014). Understanding the concept of the entrepreneurial university from the perspective of higher education models. Higher Education, 68(6), 891–908.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seguí-Mas, E., Oltra, V., Tormo-Carbó, G., & Sarrión-Viñes, F. (2018). Rowing against the wind: How do times of austerity shape academic entrepreneurship in unfriendly environments? International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 14(3), 725–766.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sidhu, R., Ho, K.-C., & Yeoh, B. (2011). Emerging education hubs: The case of Singapore. Higher Education, 61(1), 23–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Small, H. (1973). Co-citation in the scientific literature: A new measure of the relationship between two documents. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 24, 265–269.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, L. C. (1981). Citation analysis. Bibliometrics, Library Trends, 30(1), 83–106.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stromquist, N. P. (2007). Internationalization as a response to globalization: Radical shifts in university environments. Higher Education, 53(1), 81–105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Subotzky, G. (1999). Alternatives to the entrepreneurial university: New modes of knowledge production in community service programs. Higher Education, 38(4), 401–440.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Todorovic, Z. W., McNaughton, R. B., & Guild, P. (2011). ENTRE-U: An entrepreneurial orientation scale for universities. Technovation, 31(2–3), 128–137.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tuunainen, J. (2005a). Contesting a hybrid firm at a traditional university. Social Studies of Science, 35(2), 173–210.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tuunainen, J. (2005b). Hybrid practices? Contributions to the debate on the mutation of science and university. Higher Education, 50(2), 275–298.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Urbano, D., & Guerrero, M. (2013). Entrepreneurial Universities: Socioeconomic Impacts of Academic Entrepreneurship in a European Region. Economic Development Quarterly, 27(1, SI), 40–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Looy, B., Landoni, P., Callaert, J., van Pottelsberghe, B., Sapsalis, E., & Debackere, K. (2011). Entrepreneurial effectiveness of European universities: An empirical assessment of antecedents and trade-offs. Research Policy, 40(4), 553–564.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White, H. D., & Grifith, B. C. (1981). Author cocitation: A literature measure of intellectual structure. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 32(3), 163–171.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White, H. D., & McCain, K. W. (1998). Visualizing a discipline: An author co-citation analysis of information science, 1972–1995. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 49(4), 327–355.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wong, P.-K., Ho, Y.-P., & Singh, A. (2007). Towards an “entrepreneurial university” model to support knowledge-based economic development: The case of the national university of Singapore. World Development, 35(6), 941–958.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ylijoki, O. H. (2005). Academic nostalgia: A narrative approach to academic work. Human Relations, 58(5), 555–576.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yokoyama, K. (2006). Entrepreneurialism in Japanese and UK universities: Governance, management, leadership, and funding. Higher Education, 52(3), 523–555.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yusof, M., & Jain, K. K. (2010). Categories of university-level entrepreneurship: A literature survey. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 6(1), 81–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zitt, M., & Bassecoulard, E. (1994). Development of a method for detection and trend analysis of research fronts built by lexical or cocitation analysis. Scientometrics, 30, 333–351.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Dirección de Empresas Juan José Renau Piqueras, Universidad de Valencia, Valencia, Spain

    Elvira Cerver Romero

  2. Department of Management and Economics & NECE Research Unit in Business Sciences, University of Beira Interior, Covilhã, Portugal

    João J. M. Ferreira & Cristina I. Fernandes

  3. Centre for Corporate Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK

    Cristina I. Fernandes

Authors
  1. Elvira Cerver Romero
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. João J. M. Ferreira
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Cristina I. Fernandes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Elvira Cerver Romero.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Cerver Romero, E., Ferreira, J.J.M. & Fernandes, C.I. The multiple faces of the entrepreneurial university: a review of the prevailing theoretical approaches. J Technol Transf 46, 1173–1195 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10961-020-09815-4

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10961-020-09815-4

Keywords

JEL Classification

Search

Navigation