ABSTRACT
Of key importance for regional development is the creation and linking of innovation,
talent formation and entrepreneurship, which have to be considered in triplicate to
create regional advantage. Naturally, then, universities may have an important role to
play for regional development. Universities do much more than educate talented graduates
and conduct academic research that may be transformed into innovations. Such translation
processes clearly demonstrate how the contributions of universities go far beyond
narrowly defined technology transfer. Universities may add both directly and indirectly
to regional development, for example by the creation of academic spin-offs and also by
the strengthening of a regional absorptive capacity. Although academic entrepreneurship
and the associated issues of patenting, incubators and seed funding related to the
“entrepreneurial university” (see, e.g. Etzkowitz et al., 2000) have been in the focus of
the public debate for some time, we have little knowledge of the strength of this particular
mechanism. This refers not only to the direct impact on growth, but more importantly, to
the indirect effects on regional development.
