Research

The professorship's research focuses on innovations, the underlying technologies, and the field of entrepreneurship. The focus is on issues of technology and knowledge transfer, as well as the process and project design of successful innovation projects. Among other things, we investigate how research networks, strategic alliances, and collaborations—for example, between research institutions, industry, and government—accelerate innovation processes in order to quickly and efficiently translate research results, particularly in the field of sustainable technologies, into broad, practical application.

Young growth companies (start-ups) and spin-offs, such as those resulting from research projects, are also key drivers of innovation and transfer. Our entrepreneurship research focuses primarily on the early, critical phases of technology-oriented start-ups and spin-off projects. In current studies, we analyze, among other things, the role of startup accelerators, incubators and founding teams, the importance of strategic partnerships with established companies (strategic entrepreneurship) and the influence of regional ecosystems on the development of tech startups.

• Entrepreneurial Universities and Academic Spin-offs
• Innovation Intermediaries: Startup Incubators and Accelerators
• Regional Entrepreneurship and Innovation Ecosystems
• Collaborative Technology and Innovation Development: Innovation Alliances and Research Networks
• Evidence-Based Innovation and Entrepreneurship Policy
• Strategic Entrepreneurship: Corporate-Startup Collaborations
• Entrepreneurship Culture

• Entrepreneurship Culture: Bibliometric of 40 years in research (Seitz, N.; & Buratti, M.)
• Innovation radicalness of entrepreneurial ecosystems: an analysis of regional knowledge flows (Buratti, M. & Menter, M.)
• The evolutionary dynamics of entrepreneurial ecosystem: The mutual relationship between entrepreneurial activities and technological complexity (Buratti, M.)
• How to promote innovation in structural weak regions? Ex-ante policy selection of actors and modes of innovation (Buratti, M., Cantner, U. & Haedrich, T.)
• A meta-analysis towards the effectiveness of startup incubators (Buratti, M. Seitz, N.)
• The impact of AI adoption on firm efficiency (Buratti, M.,Menter, M., Seitz, N. & Voigt, J.)
• Speeding up green-tech innovations: research networks and the dynamics of co-opetition (Basilico, S., Buratti, M., Grashof, N. & Seitz, N.)

• Seitz, N., & Lehmann, E. E. (2025). Does acqui-hiring pay off? An empirical investigation of founder retention. Small Business Economics, 1-31.  https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11187-025-01107-1
• Seitz, N., Buratti, M., Lehmann, E. E., & Kurrle, J. (2025). A meta-analysis towards the effectiveness of startup accelerators. The Journal of Technology Transfer, 1-41. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10961-025-10218-6
• Buratti, M., & Menter, M. (2025). The resilience of entrepreneurial ecosystems: an analysis of ecosystem network structures. Review of Managerial Science, 1-33. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11846-025-00934-6
• Seitz, N., Lehmann, E. E., & Haslanger, P. (2024). Corporate accelerators: design and startup performance. Small Business Economics, 62(4), 1615-1640. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11187-023-00817-8
• Buratti, M., Cantner, U., Cunningham, J. A., Lehmann, E. E., & Menter, M. (2023). The dynamics of entrepreneurial ecosystems: an empirical investigation. R&D Management, 53(4), 656-674. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/radm.12565
• Haslanger, P., Lehmann, E. E., & Seitz, N. (2023). The performance effects of corporate venture capital: a meta-analysis. The Journal of Technology Transfer, 48(6), 2132-2160. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10961-022-09954-w
• Seitz, N., & Haslanger, P. (2022). Exploring the landscape of corporate venture capital and corporate accelerators in Germany. In Developments in Entrepreneurial Finance and Technology (pp. 199-226). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://www.elgaronline.com/edcollchap/book/9781800884342/book-part-9781800884342-18.xml
• Cunningham, J. A., Lehmann, E. E., Menter, M., & Seitz, N. (2021). Regional innovation, entrepreneurship and the reform of the Professor’s privilege in Germany. In Technology transfer and entrepreneurial innovations: Policies across continents (pp. 175-205). Cham: Springer International Publishing. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-70022-5_9
• Audretsch, D. B., Lehmann, E. E., & Seitz, N. (2021). Amenities, subcultures, and entrepreneurship. Small Business Economics, 56(2), 571-591. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11187-019-00190-5
• Cunningham, J. A., Lehmann, E. E., Menter, M., & Seitz, N. (2019). The impact of university focused technology transfer policies on regional innovation and entrepreneurship. The Journal of Technology Transfer, 44(5), 1451-1475.  https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10961-019-09733-0
• Audretsch, D. B., Lehmann, E. E., Menter, M., & Seitz, N. (2019). Public cluster policy and firm performance: Evaluating spillover effects across industries. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 31(1-2), 150-165. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08985626.2018.1537153 
• Audretsch, D. B., Seitz, N., & Rouch, K. M. (2018). Tolerance and innovation: the role of institutional and social trust. Eurasian Business Review, 8(1), 71-92. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40821-017-0086-4
• Lehmann, E. E., & Seitz, N. (2017). Freedom and innovation: a country and state level analysis. The Journal of Technology Transfer, 42(5), 1009-1029. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10961-016-9478-3
• Lehmann, E. E., Seitz, N., & Wirsching, K. (2017). Smart finance for smart places to foster new venture creation. Economia e Politica Industriale, 44(1), 51-75. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40812-016-0052-7
• Seitz, N., & Audretsch, D. B. (2017). Tolerance and innovation: The role of institutional and social trust. Available at SSRN 2958215. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2958215
• Lehmann, E. E., & Seitz, N. (2017). Creativtiy and entrepreneurship: culture, subcultures and the impact on new venture creation. State-of-the-art and some descriptive statistics and data. Global Management of Creativity, 97-120
• Lehmann, E. E., & Seitz, N. (2016). Creativity and entrepreneurship: Culture, subculture and new venture creation. In The Global Management of Creativity (pp. 117-140). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315693552-17/creativity-entrepreneurship-culture-subculture-new-venture-creation-erik-lehmann-nikolaus-seitz
• Seitz, N. (2016). Linking CSR to national competitiveness and innovation. In University Evolution, Entrepreneurial Activity and Regional Competitiveness (pp. 261-284). Cham: Springer International Publishing. https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-17713-7#page=266