Factors fostering students’ spin-off firm formation: An empirical comparative study of universities from North and South Europe

Purpose: – The university is an institution with a long history and, over the course of the centuries, it has gone through several stages in its development. While initially conceived as an institution with a teaching “mission,” the university later adopted a knowledge generation function (research). In recent years, the idea has emerged that the university is assuming a “third mission”: contributing to society and economic development more directly; turning the university into an Entrepreneurial University. What, however, constitutes this Entrepreneurial University? Are all Entrepreneurial Universities composed of the same factors? The purpose of this paper is to answer these significant questions, through an empirical analysis performed on a sample of 59 Northern and Southern European universities. Design/methodology/approach: – Empirical analysis performed on a sample of 59 Northern and Southern European universities. Findings: – The findings show that students’ spin-off firm formation is the only different result for an Entrepreneurial University between Northern and Southern European universities and that the core internal entrepreneurship support factors are different for both geographical locations. Originality/value: – Besides, regarding external entrepreneurship support factors, results show that a supportive institutional context is a core element for promoting internal entrepreneurship support factors and in turn for increasing students’ spin-off firm formation in both Northern and Southern universities.