Campus Boundaries and Business Formation: Institutional Determinants of College Student Startups in Korea

This study adopts a resource-based perspective, which explains how an institution’s resources contribute to competitive advantage, to examine institutional factors influencing the number of on- and off-campus student startups. The research develops seven hypotheses linking institutional programs and resources to student business creation both on- and off-campus, utilizing panel data from 130 South Korean universities collected between 2017 and 2023. The findings indicate that the total number of student startup counts at universities exhibited a significantly positive relationship with the total entrepreneurship courses, the number of major-specific entrepreneurship courses, and the number of practical entrepreneurship courses. However, only the number of practical entrepreneurship courses significantly affected on-campus startups, while the total number of entrepreneurship courses, major-specific courses, and both theoretical and practical courses significantly affected off-campus startups. In addition, it is shown that the presence of student startup clubs at universities had a strongly significant positive effect on student startup counts and that the number of student startup clubs significantly affected the total number of student startups, on-campus startups, and off-campus startups. Furthermore, the two key performance indicators related to universities’ intellectual property showed different results depending on startup locations. Our results suggest that policymakers and university administrators should actively support student startup clubs, enabling students to collaborate, share ideas, and engage in peer mentorship for both on- and off-campus startups. Additionally, universities should create more opportunities for entrepreneurial students and faculty to interact and exchange business ideas to foster on-campus startups. Furthermore, offering a diverse range of entrepreneurship courses is essential to encourage off-campus startups.