La relación entre la regulación, la innovación privada y la transferencia de tecnología de éxito: el caso de AIDIT, como spin-off universitario de éxito y su impacto en la triple hélice

Abstract

The implementation of standards is a source of innovation opportunities for firms, giving incentives to produce innovation within a competitive environment and regulation changes. The first objective of the PhD is to know more about the link between the appearance of new R&D standards and the process of firm creation. It is detected that the new legislation in 2003, RD1432, focused on the implementation of binding reasoned reports to the Treasury -based on technical evaluations of entities that received credentials from ENAC- was a key driver to achieve a secure access to fiscal incentives and R&D subsidies for firms. This regulation also facilitated the access of SMEs to those R&D subsidies and generated inter firm activity with new consultancy services. We could therefore conclude that this new R&D legislation generated firm activity and subsequent firm profits. The access to university knowledge was an important factor for understanding the success of new R&D legislations. In this regard both, systems of innovation (Lundvall, 1988, 1992; Nelson, 1993) and Triple Helix Model (Ezkowitz y Leydesdorff, 2000); propose the trilateral collaboration between government, university and industry. University researchers played an important role as external and independent evaluators of firms R&D activity. Also the university played an important role with the creation of the first company issuing certificates, AIDIT. It is considered a singular case with scientific interest given their nature of University Spin-off of UPC and UPM. AIDIT was conceived in 2001 as an entity which issued certificates for research and innovation projects, giving response to a growing demand before the regulation was effectively implemented. We follow the suggestion of Smith et al (2011), who encourage the use of case studies for understanding better the implementation of R&D regulations, technology transfer processes and triple helix models. Our qualitative approach is also consistent with Yin (1993), which stated that unique cases show evidence to the scientific community that could not have been known otherwise. The second objective of this PhD dissertation is to analyze whether AIDIT follows the usual patterns of new firm development. Using the work of Ortín and Vendrell (2010) as a reference, the annual growth rate of AIDIT doubled the one of an average Spanish university spin-off. In 2004 AIDIT reached the breakeven point and thereafter it showed positive profits consistently. This evolution is consistent with the one described by previous literature for general firms, and in particular the one described by Vohora et al. (2004) for university spin-offs. In addition, AIDIT has followed a process consistent with the different typologies of innovation cycle presented by Moore (2005). The analysis undertaken shows that the appearance of and entity as AIDIT, generates value as a support structure for innovation and a link between university and industry. AIDIT produced several indirect returns, for example giving access to salary complements for university researchers, and supporting firm access to R&D subsidies. AIDIT opened the door for other firms to enter to the sector of issuing R&D certificates and innovation consultancy services. Finally this PhD dissertation offers a wide range of recommendations for industrial and innovation policy. Some of them focused on enhancing the efficacy of R&D regulations and other are associated with the improvement of Triple Helix implementation.