Gender differences in growth of Spanish university spin-offs

Bibliographic Data

ID12920565
AuthorsMaría Jesús Rodríguez-Gulías (0000-0001-8390-474X, Universidade da Coruña, corresponding author), Sara Fernández-López (0000-0003-2496-4333, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela), David Rodeiro-Pazos (0000-0002-5272-2676, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela)
Year2018
Volume33
Issue2
Pages86-103
Publication date2018-03-09
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueGender in Management An International Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1754-2413 • E-ISSN: 1754-2421
PublisherEmerald Publishing Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1108/gm-04-2017-0040
OpenAlexW2793419196
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited39

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the hypothesis that the female-owned university spin-off organizations (USOs) have a similar resource endowment and, as a consequence, growth rates similar to the male-owned USOs. Design/methodology/approach A unique and original longitudinal data set, which is an unbalanced panel, consisting of 120 Spanish USOs over the period 2001-2010 has been constructed. The methodology includes the analysis of mean differences ( t -test) and dynamic panel data models. Findings The results confirmed that there are no gender differences in either the firms’ initial resource endowment or in the preference for industries. There is no gender effect on the USOs’ growth, but the initial endowment resources matter. Thus the financial, human and technological resources have a positive effect on the USOs’ growth. This evidence suggests that the USOs’ context may mitigate the initial resource endowment of the female-owned firms and their preferences for traditional industries, showing similar rates of growth than male-owned USOs. Research limitations/implications Owners’ gender has been used as a proxy for founders’ gender. Also, only USOs included in the SABI database have been considered as part of the sample; the significant number of USOs that did not reveal information about their owners have been discarded. Practical implications It is important to continue supporting academic entrepreneurship, as in the university context, firm growth is not affected by gender differences. However, given that the percentage of female owners in university entrepreneurship is still lower compared to entrepreneurship in general, the universities’ entrepreneur programmes targeting women must adopt a gendered perspective. Originality/value Literature on USOs has traditionally analyzed the firm-specific characteristics that impact their growth without considering the influence of the owners’ gender. In this paper, an attempt to fill this gap has been made using a sample of 120 Spanish USOs and by applying the dynamic panel data methodology. In particular, it has been argued that the university context from which USOs emerge allows female-owned USOs to have a similar resource endowment and, as a consequence, a similar growth when compared to male-owned USOs

Business · Context (archaeology · Demographic economics · Econometrics · Economics · Endowment · Entrepreneurship · Geography · Microeconomics · Panel data · Political science · Preference · Proxy (statistics · Resource (disambiguation · Sample (material · Entrepreneurship Studies and Influences · Firm Innovation and Growth · Private Equity and Venture Capital · Finance

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