Revisiting the Entrepreneurial Commercialization of Academic Science: Evidence from Twin Discoveries

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Marx, Matt; Hsu, David H.
• 署名单位: Cornell University; National Bureau of Economic Research; University of Pennsylvania
• 刊物名称: MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0025-1909
• DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2021.3966
• 发表日期: 2022
• 页码: 1330-1352
• 关键词: university technology transfer; entrepreneurship; technology commercialization; twin scientific discoveries

摘要

Which factors shape the commercialization of academic scientific discoveries via startup formation? Prior literature has identified several contributing factors but does not address the fundamental problem that the commercial potential of a nascent discovery is generally unobserved, which potentially confounds inference. We construct a sample of approximately 20,000 twin scientific articles, which allows us to hold constant differences in the nature of the advance and more precisely examine characteristics that predict startup commercialization. In this framework, several commonly accepted factors appear not to influence commercialization. However, we find that teams of academic scientists whose former collaborators include star serial entrepreneurs are much more likely to commercialize their own discoveries via startups, as are more interdisciplinary teams of scientists.