Title: Entrepreneurial scales in the Italian academia context: a comparison between university spin-offs and high-tech start-ups

Authors: Michela-Cesarina Mason; Adriano Paggiaro; Gioele Zamparo; Francesca Visintin

Addresses: Department of Economics and Statistics, University of Udine, Via Tomadini, 30/A, Udine, Italy ' Department of Statistical Sciences, University of Padua, Via Cesare Battisti, 241/243, Padova, Italy ' Department of Economics and Statistics, University of Udine, Via Tomadini, 30/A, Udine, Italy ' Department of Economics and Statistics, University of Udine, Via Tomadini, 30/A, Udine, Italy

Abstract: The present study, through a cross-sectional comparison, focuses on three well-known constructs in the entrepreneurial literature, namely entrepreneurial identity (EI), entrepreneurial bricolage (EB) and entrepreneurial orientation (EO), to assess their potential use in studies concerning university spin-offs (USOs). The current analysis wants to contribute to the research field by pushing forward the theoretical understanding of entrepreneurial dynamics in academic spin-offs, and besides ensuring the reliability of results in survey research on USOs by validating the scales of the aforementioned constructs, it provides new insights into the relationship between EI, EB and EO and the subjective performance of Italian USOs. To achieve these purposes, we draw on a robust national sample of 233 Italian USOs and 267 Italian high-tech start-ups (HTSs), which were used as a control group.

Keywords: entrepreneurial orientation; entrepreneurial bricolage; university spin-off; USO; entrepreneurial identity; academic entrepreneurship; scales validation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJESB.2022.120979

International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 2022 Vol.45 No.2, pp.210 - 234

Received: 01 Jun 2020
Accepted: 20 Feb 2021
Published online: 21 Feb 2022 *

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