Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0
Author-Name: Isabel Román Martínez
Author-Name: Maria Elena Gómez Miranda
Title:  Las Spin-Off Universitarias en Andalucía: Caracterización económico-Financiera
Abstract: RESUMEN:Las spin-off universitarias constituyen un importante potencial para el desarrollo económico y social de un territorio. En el presente trabajo se aborda la importancia económica de estas entidades y su contribución a la creación de riqueza en el ámbito andaluz. Se analizan las características demográficas de 70 spin-off universitarias y se realiza un diagnóstico de su situación económico-financiera a partir de su información contable. Se trata de pequeñas empresas, jóvenes, mayormente ubicadas en el sector servicios e innovadoras. En general se muestran solventes y rentables, lo que permite augurar su permanencia en el mercado, aunque se observan importantes diferencias sectoriales. ABSTRACT :University spin-off companies are created depending on results of research carried out by universities. These entities constitute a significant potential for the economic and social development of a country, so they are still of great interest to the political and academic spheres. Indeed, in recent years the government has made a major effort to encourage the creation of technology-based companies, which has led to the creation of 999 companies in Spain over the past 10 years. Furthermore, although there are numerous studies that identify factors which lead to their creation, there are few that examine the consequences of the activities performed. Therefore, this research addresses the economic characteristics of these spin-off companies and discovers the importance of these institutions in Andalusia. For information on the month of November 2010 we asked Andalusian Technologies Transfer Offices (TTO) about spin-off companies created in their respective universities. We received a list of a total of 237 companies from which we obtained the balance sheets and income statements for the years 2009 and 2008 of the 70 entities created prior to 2008.According to their sectorial distribution, just over 50% belong to the "Professional, scientific and technical" sector, almost a quarter are devoted to the "Information and Communications" sector and 11% are "Manufacturing". Their average age is 3.5 years and the majority of them are categorized in high and medium high technology sectors. They are generally small-scale enterprises as have, on average, contracted an average of 7.66 workers. In any case, it is noted that human capital is the main asset of spin-off companies, with a professional qualification analysis taking precedence to the number of workers.The financial-economic diagnosis of spin-off companies during 2008-2009 shows that they are solvent and profitable companies with proper management of resources which has resulted in positive developments in 2009. However, major differences can be seen according to their sectorial distribution. Thus, spin-offs that perform professional, scientific and technical activities contribute favourably to average conditions of the community. On the contrary, IT and Communication sector companies have evolved negatively and present a declining financial and especially economic situation, which is penalizing the overall situation. In general, Andalusian spin-off companies increased their investments in 2009. As expected, these technology companies highlight the importance of intangible assets in the overall economic structure, especially in IT and Communication companies, which represent more than 40% of the total invested. These entities chose to fund an increase in their investments primarily through new contributions from owners, while professional, scientific and technical companies continued its policy of self-financing, so that in both cases there was a significant reduction of dependence on the resources of others. In general spin-off companies are fairly well subsidized, highlighting the significance of this type of financing in the IT and Communication sector which represents over 14% of the financial structure.  Professional, Scientific and Technical spin-off companies maintain high staffing and are more productive. With the development of its activities, sufficient resources are generated to meet its liabilities whilst achieving a profit in 2009 and a growing positive financial and economic performance. However, there is a deterioration in the economic situation of IT and Communication companies, which in no way receive adequate resources from their core business nor a return on their investments, which proves they are unprofitable companies to their owners. The results allow us to find certain traits of academic spin-offs, conditioned by the activity which they perform. To appreciate the real importance of these institutions and contribute to the debate on whether these firms are actually more successful than the rest of technology based companies, these results should be compared with those derived from similar non-academia institutions.   In conclusion, we can say that the recent interest aroused by these companies is not so much the acceptance of the fact that they are actually generating a current positive economic impact, at least overall, but also in its conceptual transcendence bridging university research and the commercial. From that point of view we have a wide unanimous understanding which is:  spin-off companies by nature have a particularly significant potential to contribute to development, although not yet in all cases. One must trust that the determination manifesting countries like Spain that drives University business projection always leads to this potential being tapped.
Classification-JEL: R1
Keywords: Spin-Off universitaria, Desempeño, Transferencia de conocimiento, Productividad, Riqueza, Empleo, Andalucía, Academic Spin-Off, Performance, Knowledge transfer, Productivity, Wealth, Employment, Andalusia
Pages: 75-101
Volume: 1
Year: 2014
File-URL: http://www.revistaestudiosregionales.com/documentos/articulos/pdf-articulo-2432.pdf
File-Format: Application/pdf
Handle: RePEc:rer:articu:v:1:y:2014:p:75-101