Universities play a unique role in society, providing a community of experimentation and innovation. Even so, leaders around the world have had to push for university primacy to retain competitiveness in the global economy. This paper examines efforts taken by universities in the United States to evaluate their contribution to economic development. An emerging role for universities is one of active neighborhood involvement, in which they are engaged in projects with local communities. These projects include providing assistance to local firms and policy advice to state and local government, and getting involved in community outreach. In this role and in an unprecedented manner, universities are engaging on a wide range of topics with local communities, using these communities as labs to test new ideas and find better ways to achieve social and economic goals. This is precisely why it is important to consider the larger role of universities' in economic and social development.

Despite their significance, firms created by students have been the subject of little research. Adopting the entrepreneurial ecosystem framework, this paper examines the growth of student start-ups, especially those that participate in university accelerators. Focused on the University of Toronto, this paper contributes to an understanding of how university accelerators can better support the entrepreneurial efforts of students. It is clear that firms that participate in accelerators with a screening process have a stronger performance in both employment and product growth. Moreover, a habitual entrepreneur director or a more intensive accelerator program is found to have more positive effects on product growth at firms than on employment growth.

To analyze university contribution to economic development, the present study examines universities' technology transfer policies and their associated economic development impact. The article examines how a university defines itself as part of a region as well as what activities, if any, do university commercialization strategies in context of their regional environment affect spin-off activity. Furthermore, this study explores the ways universities contribute to regional economic development by examining existing theories and analyzing universities' relationships with both government and industry in two regions. This study draws from Roberts and Malone's (1996) selectivity-support typology and highlights this article's argument by comparing the commercialization strategies of world-class universities strategies in the development of regional biotechnology clusters in Massachusetts and in Connecticut. This article investigates the notion of whether universities can differently influence the economic development processes of the while still having successful commercial outcomes. These findings build on previous research (Clarysse et al., 2005;Degroof and Roberts, 2004;Powers and McDougall, 2005), which argues that low support-low selectivity policies may be more suitable to entrepreneurially developed environments, whereas high support-high selectivity policies are more efficient in entrepreneurially underdeveloped environments. Masachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is located in a strong technopole region, whereby many of its support structures for spin-off formation are provided by the regional infrastructure of the Cambridge-Boston region. In contrast, Yale University, which has an underdeveloped entrepreneurial context, has had to take a more proactive role in providing incubation capabilities to their spin-off projects. This finding supports a contingent based perspective of academic entrepreneurship, whereby low support-low selectivity policies are more fitted to entrepreneurially developed environments, whereas high support-high selectivity policies are more efficient in entrepreneurially underdeveloped environments.

Breznitz S. M. Improving or impairing? Following technology transfer changes at the University of Cambridge, Regional Studies. At academic and policy levels, universities are finding themselves in heated debate about their role in fostering entrepreneurship and local economic growth. Theories that encourage university involvement in the region perceive a straightforward positive correlation between the level of the university contribution and industrial growth in the region. Accordingly, the adaptation of a successful model will have positive results on local economic growth. Utilizing a case study of the University of Cambridge, this paper contends that the impact on regional economies depends on universities' resources, policies, and organization, as well as on industry's response to the knowledge and innovation generated. [image omitted] Breznitz S. M. Ameliorer ou affaiblir? Suivre l'evolution du transfert technologique a l'Universite de Cambridge, Regional Studies. Aux niveaux academique et de politique, les universites se retrouvent au coeur d'un debat anime au sujet de leur role dans la promotion de l'esprit d'entreprise et de la croissance economique locale. Les theories en faveur de l'engagement regional voient une correlation etroite directe entre l'importance de la contribution de l'universite et le taux de croissance industrielle de la region. Il s'ensuit que l'adaptation d'un modele reussi aura des effets positifs sur la croissance economique locale. En se servant d'une etude de cas de, a savoir l'Universite de Cambridge, cet article affirme que l'effet regional depend des ressources, des politiques, et de l'organisation de l'universite, aussi bien que de la reponse de l'industrie a la connaissance et a l'innovation creees. Amenagement du territoire Transfert technologique Universites Biotechnologie Breznitz S. M. Verbesserung oder Beeintrachtigung? Untersuchung der Veranderungen im Bereich des Technologietransfers in der Universitat Cambridge, Regional Studies. Die Universitaten befinden sich auf akademischer und politischer Ebene in einer hitzigen Debatte uber ihre Rolle bei der Forderung von Unternehmertum und lokalem Wirtschaftswachstum. In den Theorien zugunsten einer Beteiligung der Universitaten an der Region wird eine einfache positive Korrelation zwischen dem Ausmass des Beitrags der Universitat und dem industriellen Wachstum in der Region gesehen. Dementsprechend wirkt sich die Anpassung eines erfolgreichen Modells positiv auf das lokale Wirtschaftswachstum aus. Anhand einer Fallstudie der Universitat Cambridge wird in diesem Beitrag argumentiert, dass die Auswirkung auf die Regionalwirtschaften von den Ressourcen, Politiken und der Organisation der Universitaten abhangt sowie auch von der Reaktion der Industrie auf das erzeugte Wissen und die entstandene Innovation. Regionale Wirtschaftsentwicklung Technologietransfer Universitaten Biotechnologie Breznitz S. M. �Mejora o perjuicio? Analisis de los cambios de la transferencia tecnologica en la Universidad de Cambridge, Regional Studies. Las...

University-based entrepreneurial support organizations devote increasing efforts to create a context and opportunities for interaction among start-up firms. The basic assumption behind these efforts is that networks facilitate access to knowledge and resources and increase the chances of success for start-ups.However, the mechanisms that facilitate the creation of business ties with other members of the same community are yet to be identified and empirically tested. This paper leverages the social network and firm incubator literatures to hypothesize and test mechanisms that create the context and opportunity for business interaction among member firms within one university-based entrepreneurial support organization. The study uses the empirical setting of a large, university based support organization and the sample includes firms with different levels of membership-support. This empirical context allows us to compare different levels of membership-support and identify the dimensions that have greater impacts on a firm's opportunity to establish ties with other members. The results reveal that geographical proximity, ad-hoc service support including shared space, and a larger community of member and graduate firms to which network ties may be formed increases the chance of connecting with other past or current member firms. Acknowledgements:We would like to acknowledge....

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In the last decade, arts and culture have been placed at the center of attention when discussing economic growth. In particular, studies on the "creative class" have been using arts and culture as an important factor impacting local economies. In addition, studies on local economic development have frequently viewed universities as a major factor in economic growth. In the middle of this discussion is new economic growth via creativity, via new recipes and new combinations of local capital, and via innovation centers.

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