A longitudinal and thematic analysis of entrepreneurial university research (1969–2024)

Abstract This study presents the evolution of the ‘Entrepreneurial University’ concept with the literature dating back to sub-concepts published on in 1969, pre-dating the Bayh-Dole Act in 1980 or Etzkowitz’ (1983) coining of the term. Studying this evolutionary path offers suggestions for future directions of research, considering how universities navigate increasingly diverse, yet complementary, expectations from society, industry, government and their own disciplines. This study identifies 5857 articles via Web of Science, Scopus and Google Scholar and uses keyword co-occurrence analysis to identify 240 topics and their interrelationships relating to the entrepreneurial university literature. The dataset also reveals journals and topics beyond the realm of R&D management journals, including entrepreneurship education, regional development, public policy and public administration. Longitudinal analysis of the topics indicates how the literature has engaged in perspectives that are increasingly based on complex systems views, including technological, social and environmental systems, accompanied by measurement of associated variables (notably in entrepreneurial self-efficacy, orientation and intentions). Despite the exponential growth of the literature, the growth of topics is plateauing, indicating a maturation of the concept. The literature can be considered to span five approximate eras that organically layer onto each other: (i) technology transfer, (ii) clustering, (iii) innovation systems, (iv) social systems, and (v) human-centered systems. The methodology allows for the 240 topics to be categorized and visualized as a hierarchically topic map, with topics clustering around seven core themes, providing a highly nuanced overview of the core and peripheral concepts relating to the Entrepreneurial University. Overall, this study contributes to a more comprehensive and nuanced understanding of the Entrepreneurial University concept and the evolution of the underlying literature. These contributions open doors to discuss future directions and extensions, and more critical analysis of which topics are more or less peripheral. For instance, we argue that sustainability and wellbeing are beyond scope of the original definitions, and that there is room for more research to on university administration, leadership and strategy. In the appendices, this study identifies top journals and seminal articles that epitomize each of the seven core themes, thus providing a starting point for scholars or policy makers interested in each of the themes.