Abstract
Academic spin-offs, increasingly relevant, foster knowledge transfer, innovation and diversified economic growth. In Spain the academic entrepreneurship is a recent practice, has been deeply hit by the crisis.
This investigation aims at advancing research on academic entrepreneurship in times of austerity, by conducting an in-depth analysis of the key resources for spin-off creation in a technical university operating in an unfiendly environment. Building on the OShea et al.s (2008) academic entrepreneurship framework, a case study research strategy is developed. Qualitative and quantitative analysis are combined extending prior research. A survey was applied to spin-offs of the target university, and relevant agents were interviewed. Results show a relatively favourable influence of institutional and organizational drivers, a mixed role depending on specific motivations of personal factors, and a rather adverse local context given the structural unfriendliness of the environment combined with the current Spanish economic downturn.
