Academic entrepreneurship at Belgian Universities

In this paper a framework of university-industry interactions is discussed. The presence or absence of academic entrepreneurial behaviour is considered as a basic variable in distinguishing a host of transfer mechanisms. As a hypothesis it is stated that university-industry interactions are hampered by three types of barriers: cultural, institutional and operational.
This framework is then applied to the Belgian university system. The relative importance of different groups of transfer mechanisms is described. Particular attention is given to the barriers occurring during licensing arrangements and entrepreneurial ventures. A mix of cultural, institutional and operational barriers helps to explain why licensing arrangements and entrepreneurial ventures occur at present less frequently then the assistance mechanisms.