Doctoral dissertation research: Impact of academic entrepreneurship on doctoral student innovation

Georgia Tech Research Corporation, Atlanta GA

Investigators

Abstract

This project examines the impact advisor entrepreneurial activities on the innovative output of doctoral students. Entrepreneurial ventures are widely considered a fundamental engine for employment and economic growth. Individuals who engage in entrepreneurship come from a variety of backgrounds, including (and increasingly) academe. The participation of university professors in entrepreneurship has experienced a surge in recent years, which has contributed to the creation of technology- and knowledge-intensive companies. This increase of entrepreneurial activity comes partially as a response to universities promoting entrepreneurship among the faculty. As universities and public policy makers increase the incentives for faculty members to start companies, they should, however, also carefully consider the implications for the other roles played by university professors. Despite the time and resources invested in promoting academic entrepreneurship, little is known about the implications of faculty engagement in entrepreneurship on, for example, creating public knowledge and training students. This project examines the latter by analyzing the extent to which an advisor's engagement in entrepreneurship impacts their doctoral students' innovative output, highlighting the trade-off between two different channels of knowledge transfer from universities to private firms. One is through the creation of university spinoffs, while the other is embodied by students. Overall, this research provides a better understanding of how professors' commercial activities may have long-lasting effects on their students' innovative productivity and careers, thereby ultimately influencing the rate and direction of inventive activity. This project uses rich administrative data on doctoral students and professors in computer science and engineering at a highly-ranked US research university, to assess variation in doctoral students' innovation and career outcomes, before and after research faculty transition into entrepreneurship. The data encompass information on professors' nationality, gender, ethnicity, age, salaries, federal funding, the number and quality of publications, as well as information on their patenting output and the number of startups they have established. These data are complemented by matching professors to their doctoral students, based on information provided by the Registrar's Office of the examined institution. For doctoral students, data includes detailed information on nationality, age, year of admission and graduation, major, GRE scores, GPAs, gender, and ethnicity, previous degree-granting institutions, careers before and after graduation, as well as publication, and patent records. The empirical approach applied to this study makes use of the richness of the available data to address potential biases induced by sorting and endogeneity of entrepreneurial activity. The findings of this study enhance our knowledge about the potential side-effects of professors' commercial activities on the innovative output and career trajectories of the doctoral students they advise. As such, this project takes an important step towards understanding the consequences of academic entrepreneurship for both universities and future innovators. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.