Culture and university entrepreneurship

Abstract

Latin American universities typically fulfil the functions of teaching, research and the dissemination of culture. To become entrepreneurial universities, they incorporate knowledge transfer or, more generally, the commercialization of academic research and involvement in socio-economic development. However, proposals have been made to treat culture as a horizontal activity that also encompasses the creation of university cultural enterprises. To achieve this requires the crossing of the Arts and Sciences and the promotion of the resulting knowledge transfer. Here, an exploratory study of 16 cultural firms in Mexico allows us to identify strategies aimed at enhancing the entrepreneurial potential of the universities’ cultural activities in the country.