How does the entrepreneurial orientation of scientists affect their scientific performance? Evidence from the quadrant model

Abstract

Using Stokes's (1997) "quadrant model of scientific research," this paper deals with how the entrepreneurial orientation of scientists affects their scientific performance by considering its impact on scientific production (number of publications), scientific prestige (number of forward citations), and breadth of research activities (interdisciplinarity). The results of a quantitative analysis applied to a sample of 1,957 scientific papers published by 66 scientists active in advanced materials research in Japan found that (i) entrepreneurial scientists publish more papers than traditional scientists do, (ii) the papers published by Bohr scientists (traditional scientists with a stronger intention to fundamentality) demonstrate better citation performance than those published by Pasteur scientists (entrepreneurial scientists with a stronger intention to fundamentality) do, on average; (iii) if the focus is confined to high-impact papers, their prestige (i.e., forward citation counts) is favored by the authorship of Pasteur scientists; and (iv) the portfolio interdisciplinarity of papers authored by Pasteur scientists is higher (more diverse) than that of Bohr scientists.2

Determinants of research collaboration towards a knowledge-based economy in Ghana

“…Whereas basic research, as defined in Stokes’s quadrant, is driven by the goal of creating understanding or generating knowledge for its own sake or advancing science, applied research is conducted for the purpose of using the findings to solve problems or generate innovation, and use-inspired basic research embraces both the desire to develop understanding and consideration of practical application (Ooms et al, 2015). Studies, for example those by Calvert (2002) and Shichijo et al (2015), have shown that university researchers are often interested in basic research due to the advantage of advancing their field of inquiry and their career, while industry is very often interested in applied research for the purpose of innovation. Use-inspired basic research, therefore, presents university researchers and industry with the opportunity to meet their individual and collective aspirations, as posited by Stokes in his quadrant model of scientific research.…”

Attention to Exploration: The Effect of Academic Entrepreneurship on the Production of Scientific Knowledge

“…Previous research suggests a primarily positive correlation between entrepreneurship and research performance by academics, shown with data sets from the United States, Canada, Italy, and Japan (Louis et al 2001, Lowe and Gonzalez-Brambila 2007, Abramo et al 2012, Shichijo et al 2015. Conversely, Buenstorf (2009), studying a sample of senior scientists at the German Max Planck Society, found that the effect on research performance of having inventions licensed to academics' own ventures is positive, but the effect of being involved in a venture is negative.…”

“…Extant research points to a positive association of academic entrepreneurship and research performance (Louis et al 2001, Lowe and Gonzalez-Brambila 2007, Abramo et al 2012, Shichijo et al 2015, with some exceptions (Buenstorf 2009). Regardless of this empirical ambiguity, we know little about the mechanism responsible for generating beneficial effects-if any-from entrepreneurship.…”

Role of machine and organizational structure in science

“…included in the author address ( #Org ), and the number of countries included in the author address ( #Country ). We also control for university-industry collaboration as it is known to affect scientific performance [ 54 ]. A dummy variable is coded 1 if a paper has both academic and industrial affiliations and 0 otherwise ( Univ-Industry Collab ).…”