Innovative Activity in Minority-Owned and Women-Owned Business: Evidence from the U.S. Small Business Innovation Research Program (SpringerBriefs in Entrepreneurship and Innovation)

"This volume examines the involvement of minority- or women-owned businesses in technology-based research, with particular focus on the differences in research outcomes in achieving commercialization. Specifically, the authors empirically investigate the correlation between technologies from projects funded through the Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program and the minority or gender demographics of the owners of the businesses conducting the research. This study offers an opportunity to not only examine public-sector agencies investments in research, but also to investigate if there are race and/or gender gaps in such business participation in innovative activities. It also provides a means to understand innovation by minorities and women in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Investments in fundamental science and technology research and investments in human capital through science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education are important building blocks of innovation. Two methods of fueling innovation are to 1) accelerate the commercialization of federally funded research and 2) ensure opportunities for underrepresented minorities and women in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Despite this understanding, there is still a disparity in the rates of educated men and women in STEM fields participating in entrepreneurship. Moreover, the link between underrepresentation of minorities and women across STEM fields correlates with entrepreneurial entry and performance. This book expands on these findings and estimates the probability that (1) a funded research project reaches completion, (2) the developed technology is commercialized, and finally (3) the commercialized technology is successful in the marketplace (i.e., the business gained revenue and market share from the technology)."--ProQuest website This volume examines the involvement of minority- or women-owned businesses in technology-based research, with particular focus on the differences in research outcomes in achieving commercialization. Specifically, the authors empirically investigate the correlation between technologies from projects funded through the Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program and the minority or gender demographics of the owners of the businesses conducting the research. This study offers an opportunity to not only examine public-sector agencies' investments in research, but also to investigate if there are race and/or gender gaps in such business' participation in innovative activities. It also provides a means to understand innovation by minorities and women in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Investments in fundamental science and technology research and investments in human capital through science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education are important building blocks of innovation. Two methods of fueling innovation are to 1) accelerate the commercialization of federally funded research and 2) ensure opportunities for underrepresented minorities and women in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Despite this understanding, there is still a disparity in the rates of educated men and women in STEM fields participating in entrepreneurship. Moreover, the link between underrepresentation of minorities and women across STEM fields correlates with entrepreneurial entry and performance. This book expands on these findings and estimates the probability that (1) a funded research project reaches completion, (2) the developed technology is commercialized, and finally (3) the commercialized technology is successful in the marketplace (i.e., the business gained revenue and market share from the technology).--Publisher Preface 5 Acknowledgments 7 Contents 8 List of Figures 10 List of Tables 11 About the Authors 16 Chapter 1: Introduction 18 Chapter 2: Background Literature Review 22 2.1 Minority Entrepreneurship 23 2.2 Women’s Entrepreneurship 25 2.3 Studies on Minority and Women’s Entrepreneurship 28 Chapter 3: The U.S. Small Business Innovation Research Program 30 Appendix: Historical Overview of the Agencies in the National Research Council Database 34 A.1 Federal Agency Summaries 34 A.2 Department of Defense 34 A.3 National Institutes of Health 36 A.4 National Aeronautics and Space Administration 38 A.5 Department of Energy 39 A.6 National Science Foundation 42 Chapter 4: The 2005 National Research Council Database 45 4.1 Overview of the Database 45 4.2 Characteristics of the Funded Businesses 46 4.3 Characteristics of the Funded Projects 52 4.4 Characteristics of the Innovative Activity of the Funded Businesses 57 4.5 Summary Remarks 58 Chapter 5: Innovative Activity in Minority-Owned and Women-Owned Businesses 59 5.1 Project Failure and Project Success 59 5.2 Technology Commercialization 61 5.3 Technology Sales 62 5.4 Intellectual Property 62 Chapter 6: Estimating the Probability of a Phase II Project Being Discontinued 66 6.1 The Econometric Model 66 6.2 Descriptive Evidence 67 6.3 Multivariate Analysis 69 Chapter 7: Estimating the Probability of Commercialization 77 7.1 The Econometric Model 77 7.2 Descriptive Evidence 78 7.3 Multivariate Analysis 78 Chapter 8: Estimating the Success of Commercialization 87 8.1 The Econometric Model 87 8.2 Descriptive Evidence 88 8.3 Multivariate Analysis 88 Chapter 9: Estimating Covariates with Knowledge Spillovers 96 9.1 The Econometric Model 96 9.2 Descriptive Evidence 103 9.3 Multivariate Analysis 104 Chapter 10: Concluding Remarks 106 References 107 Index 112 Front Matter ....Pages i-xx Introduction (Albert N. Link, Laura T. R. Morrison)....Pages 1-4 Background Literature Review (Albert N. Link, Laura T. R. Morrison)....Pages 5-12 The U.S. Small Business Innovation Research Program (Albert N. Link, Laura T. R. Morrison)....Pages 13-27 The 2005 National Research Council Database (Albert N. Link, Laura T. R. Morrison)....Pages 29-42 Innovative Activity in Minority-Owned and Women-Owned Businesses (Albert N. Link, Laura T. R. Morrison)....Pages 43-49 Estimating the Probability of a Phase II Project Being Discontinued (Albert N. Link, Laura T. R. Morrison)....Pages 51-61 Estimating the Probability of Commercialization (Albert N. Link, Laura T. R. Morrison)....Pages 63-72 Estimating the Success of Commercialization (Albert N. Link, Laura T. R. Morrison)....Pages 73-81 Estimating Covariates with Knowledge Spillovers (Albert N. Link, Laura T. R. Morrison)....Pages 83-92 Concluding Remarks (Albert N. Link, Laura T. R. Morrison)....Pages 93-93 Back Matter ....Pages 95-103