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Fields of Knowledge, Types of Higher Education Institutions, and Innovative Start-Ups - An Empirical Investigation

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  • Michael Fritsch

    (School of Economics and Business Administration, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena)

  • Ronney Aamoucke

    (School of Economics and Business Administration, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena)

Abstract

We investigate the role played by different fields of academic knowledge and various types of higher education institutions in the emergence of innovative start-ups in a region. We show that education and research in the applied and natural sciences have the strongest effect on the emergence of new businesses in innovative industries. Distinguishing between different indicators for these types of knowledge, the strongest effects are found for the number of professors, followed by the number of students and the amount of external funds attracted. This discovery clearly indicates that it is more the size of the regional knowledge stock than the number of students that is most important for the emergence of innovative stat-ups.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Fritsch & Ronney Aamoucke, 2014. "Fields of Knowledge, Types of Higher Education Institutions, and Innovative Start-Ups - An Empirical Investigation," Jena Economics Research Papers 2014-013, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    • Handle: RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2014-013
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    New business formation; innovative start-ups; universities; regional knowledge;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • L60 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - General
    • L80 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - General
    • O18 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Urban, Rural, Regional, and Transportation Analysis; Housing; Infrastructure
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)
    • R30 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - General

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