Bringing University Knowledge to Market

Abstract

In the knowledge-based economy, the pivotal role of commercialization of university knowledge is increasingly recognized by researchers and policymakers dealing with national and regional economies. Knowledge commercialization is the process in which value is added to new knowledge in its transformation into new (improved) products, processes, methods, or services on the way to market. The channels are manifold, among others licenses sold to firms, university–firms research alliances, university-firms collaboration in projects, and formation of spin-off firms. Collaboration between universities and firms in research projects, in contrast to other channels, has received relatively small attention, causing a lack of understanding of determining factors of the outcome of these projects. To fill this gap, this chapter attempts to characterise the outcomes of commercialization of research projects at university, in terms of success, delay and failure, and to identify the determining factors. The Netherlands, despite its small size, is facing different regional innovation systems which - according to theoretical insights - provide different circumstances in knowledge creation and commercialization. The chapter draws on a database of 370 research projects covering two different regions in the Netherlands and on in-depth data of approximately 50 of such projects representing these regions.