Institutional Factors Affecting University Startup Types and Their Performances in Korean Universities: A Panel Data Analysis

This study adopts a resource-based framework to investigate the factors driving the prevalence of three types of startups in universities by faculty, students, and university organizations, and their subsequent performance indicator, such as employee count. Specifically, we formulate twelve hypotheses that link institutional resources and university infrastructure to each type of university startups and their performance. By analyzing data from 130 South Korean four-year universities spanning the years 2017 to 2021, we examine variations across six distinct university resource categories. Our findings reveal that the factors influencing different types of university startups are distinct. Research funds and universities’ personnel policies have a significant impact on professor startups, whereas startup education programs and faculty startup performance are significant student startups. In addition, both the level of financial resources and the existence of a technology-holding company exert a broad influence on all three types of university startups, albeit with a distinction in the nature funds. Research funds are correlated with faculty and student startups, whereas commercialization funds are associated with universities’ organizational startups. Nevertheless, the presence of a technology-holding company has a significant impact on all three types of university startups and their respective performances. Furthermore, the outcomes underscore a distinct contrast between the factors influencing each type of university startups and the factors influencing their respective performances. Our results provide implications for both university and government policy-makers, emphasizing the necessity for a targeted approach in policies aimed at fostering startups across faculty, students, and university organizations.