Universities and research organizations are increasingly demanded to contribute to the process of innovation. It is still unclear how the increasing societal commitment of academic research affects individual scientific performance. We compare scientific productivity of 95 Italian tenured university scientists in Science and Engineering fields who have served as directors in academic spin-off companies in the period 2000-2010 before and after their appointment, to that of a matched control group. Our findings suggest that engagement in academic entrepreneurship is not deleterious for research even though scientists need to adjust their work routines to achieve synergies between the two activities.
