Research groups as ‘quasi-firms’: the invention of the entrepreneurial university

Abstract

Academic entrepreneurship arose from internal as well as external impetuses. The entrepreneurial university is a result of the working out of an “inner logic” of academic development that previously expanded the academic enterprise from a focus on teaching to research. The internal organization of the Research University consists of a series of research groups that have firm-like qualities, especially under conditions in which research funding is awarded on a competitive basis. Thus, the Research University shares homologous qualities with a start-up firm even before it directly engages in entrepreneurial activities.