Resource Spillover from Academia to High Tech Industry: Evidence from New Nanotechnology-Based Firms in the U.S.

Abstract

The role of universities in supporting economic development has been explored in numerous studies emphasizing the mechanisms of technology transfer and knowl-edge spillover. However, in addition to these forms of intellectual capital, university scientists bring other resources into research collaboration and contribute to firm part-nerships in both direct and indirect ways. This thesis proposes the concept of resource spillover, which captures the various ways in which university scientists can benefit col-laborating firms. The study first analyzes firms, university scientists, and collaboration along with the concepts of ego, alter, and network ties in social capital theory; then it categorizes the resources possessed by university scientists into human capital, social capital, and positional capital, and tests the impact of each on the performance of a firm. The study finds that firms benefit from research collaboration in terms of both increased research capability and research output and improved public relations and research credibility. The study is carried out using a sample of new nanotechnology-based firms in the United States. As the U.S. government recognizes nanotechnology as providing scientific and technological opportunities with immense potential, this industry has be-come the recipient of significant federal R&D funding. In turn, because academic re-search has proven to be important to not only overall nanotechnology R&D but also in-dustrial R&D, it necessitates appropriate policy programs that support successful re-source spillover from academia and promote the development of industry.