ACADEMIC ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN INDIA

Abstract

This Project is designed for assessing the level of academic entrepreneurial activity in India along with the prevailing entrepreneurial framework conditions. Countries vary widely in terms of their level of entrepreneurial activity. With a range of the Total Entrepreneurial Activity (TEA) index from 5% (Belgium) to 18% (Brazil), India with a level of 11.2% is 9th from the top. India is the highest among 29 countries on necessity-based entrepreneurship (with a level of 7.5%), and fifth from the bottom on opportunity-based entrepreneurship (3.7%). Necessity-based entrepreneurship is highly correlated (r=0.70) with projected national economic growth, while opportunity-based entrepreneurship showed no such correlation (r=0.00). The project assessed the nine entrepreneurial framework conditions in India through interviews and questionnaire responses of selected experts .The level of entrepreneurial activity in the country was assessed through a random sample survey of adult population in the country. The role and level of academic entrepreneurial activity was assessed through interviews and questionnaire response of academicians and administrators of the educational institutions. Analysis of the experts’ questionnaires showed that India was below the average of 29 countries on many of the framework conditions such as government policies, physical infrastructure, education system, R&D transfer, and respect for vi Academic Entrepreneurship in India entrepreneurship in the society. On two factors (Opportunity perception by the individual, and Ease of market entry for a new player) India’s scores were more or less the same as the Global average. There were four factors that were slightly better than the global average for India. They were: Market Dynamism, Entrepreneurial Capacity, Commercial and Professional Infrastructure, and Financial Support. During the interviews with the experts, they were asked to identify the critical issues, if any, which blocked entrepreneurship in the country. The critical problem areas identified by them are: Government policies, Cultural and social norms, Financial support, Commercial and professional infrastructure, Physical infrastructure, Education and training, R&D transfer, and Government programmes. Significantly, the government programmes seem to be adequate, but it is the government policies that constitute the major bottleneck. The study also revealed some special characteristics of entrepreneurship in educational institutions. 1. Universities and Educational institutions are not undertaking any proactive role in bridging the gap between academia and industry. Any small level of entrepreneurial activities, if undertaken by educational institutions is developed reactively. 2. There is a clear lack of funding and support for entrepreneurial activities. vii Academic Entrepreneurship in India 3. Entrepreneurial activities are not seen as important part of overall functioning of the educational institutions. 4. There is a distinct lack of motivation to take up entrepreneurial activities as academic recognition and reward systems are not in place. 5. There is lack of infrastructure for promotion of entrepreneurship in educational institutions. 6. The internal marketing of educational institution’s expertise is grossly inadequate. 7. There is a mismatch between academic-industry culture and priorities. 8. There is lack of awareness and communication between educational institutions and industry regarding potential mutual benefits of industry academia collaboration. The findings of the study raise a lot of questions especially about the academic entrepreneurial framework conditions in the country, and pose challenges to all segments of the Indian society particularly the policy-makers, implementers, institutions, educationists, researchers, and entrepreneurs themselves.