(The) effects of academic entrepreneurship on scientific research productivity

Abstract

A call to action by the National Academy of Sciences to close the gap between academia and practice has changed the innovation landscape in academic research, encouraging academic scientists to have an entrepreneurial mindset. While there is a widely accepted belief that individual scientists play a key role in closing the technological gap between academia and practice, it is necessary to empirically understand how the rising trend of academic entrepreneurship changes scientists’ research directions because policymakers and universities widely advocate academic entrepreneurship. I assess the impact of academic entrepreneurship on a scientist’s research productivity by using a unique set of data from the National Science Foundation Innovation Corps program. The results show that scientists who participated in the entrepreneurship program file for more patents and also publish fewer articles in academic journals. This research makes two contributions. First, it sheds light on how entrepreneurship rearranges the future research directions of entrepreneurial faculty. Second, the findings provide insight for policymakers that potential sides effects should be considered for the future regulatory compliance.