Growth of KIBS and non-KIBS firms: evidences from university spin-offs

Knowledge Intensive Business Services (KIBS) firms are emerging into a knowledge-processing and knowledge-producing industry. Universities contribute to the creation of KIBS firms through university spin-offs (USOs), which represent an opportunity to boost knowledge spillovers from university to industry thanks to their cutting-edge research knowledge, consolidated research experience and well-developed interactive learning processes. The study of the growth of the KIBS USOs is needed to better understand whether these entrepreneurial ventures represent strategic elements of regional innovation systems and economic growth, distinguishing them from the other USOs in terms of growth. The paper explores whether KIBS firms grow more than non-KIBS firms. Using a sample of 1394 Italian and Spanish USOs over the period 2005–2013, the results show that being a KIBS firm has a positive effect on the growth of Spanish USOs, whereas the same does not hold for Italian USOs. Some relevant policies and practical implications are provided.