University spillovers and new firm location

This paper examines the impact of locational choice as a firm strategy to access knowledge spillovers from universities. Based on a large dataset of publicly listed, high-technology startup firms in Germany, we test the proposition that proximity to the university is shaped by different spillover mechanisms-research and human capital-and by different types of knowledge spillovers-natural sciences and social sciences. The results suggest that spillover mechanisms as well as spillover types are heterogeneous. In particular, the evidence suggests that new knowledge and technological-based firms have a high propensity to locate close to universities, presumably in order to access knowledge spillovers. However, the exact role that geographic proximity plays is shaped by the two factors examined in this paper-the particular knowledge context, and the specific type of spillover mechanism.