Chapter 13 A Conceptual Framework for Studying a Technology Transfer from Academia to New Firms

Global technological competition has made technology transfer from academia to firms an important public policy issue ( Rahm, 1994 ). Academia and individual academic institutions are a primary source of new knowledge production and innovation ( Brennan & McGowan, 2007 ). It is widely acknowledged that the commercialization of scientific and technological knowledge produced in public funded research institutions, including universities and research centres, into the marketplace have a fundamental role to play in wealth creation, supporting economic growth and technological innovation, and plays a significant role in new venture creation, growth of existing firms, and new job creation ( Mansfield, 1991 ; Harmon et al., 1997 ; Ndonzuau, Pirnay, & Surlemont, 2002 ; Siegel, Waldman, Atwater, & Link, 2003b ; Steffensen, Rogers, & Speakman, 1999 ; Walter, Auer, & Ritter, 2006 ; Perez & Sanchez, 2003 ). Research by Acs, Audretsch, and Feldman (1992) , Jaffe (1989) , Mansfield (1991, 1998), and others indicates that technological change in important segments of the economy has been significantly based on knowledge that spin-off from academic research.