Critical analysis of the role of universities in the creation and survival of university spin-offs : proposal of an academic model of support

The survival of University spin-offs (USOs) has been directly related to their role as product innovators and as technology transfer agents for years. However, the lack of management abilities and support to get financial resources and strategic alliances make their survival more difficult than for other companies. Academic support would able to increase the competitive advantage of the USOs compared to other innovative spin-offs. However, the number of Spanish new firms is smaller than those of the other countries and their impact over the economy is quite low. This paper investigates differential factors of survival of USOS in Spain compared to spin-offs not linked to universities by means of the characteristics of the founder, the environment surrounding the new firm and the spin-off company itself. Based on the Helm&Mauroner model, our work advances the study of the survival dynamic of these companies and identifies measures to be implemented by the university government to support the survival of USOs. Finally, an academic model for USOs support is presented, considering the role of USOs ́founders, academic institutions and government, a proposal of policies and a set of assessment indicators to control the success of the measures. -- university spin-offs ; human capital ; systems dynamic ; innovation transference ; entrepreneurship