Shiri M. Breznitz

Shiri M. Breznitz, an economic geographer, specializes in innovation, technology commercialization, and regional economic development. Her research is at the critical intersection of theory and policy to fit the new realities of globalization. Professor Breznitz’s work has informed policy making at the local, national, and international levels. She has advised on the role of universities in the larger story of innovation, on the economic impact of biotechnology and intellectual property, and on the role of industrial clusters in driving innovation. Her current projects include a study on the economic impact of entrepreneurship education, the impact of gender and work experience on entrepreneurship, the geography of crowdfunding, and a study on the impact of IPR policy on ecosystems of innovation. Professor Breznitz’s book, “The Fountain of Knowledge” with Stanford University Press (July 2014), analyzes universities’ relationships with government and industry, focusing on the biotechnology industry as a case study. She has also co-edited the book, “University Technology Transfer: The Globalization of Academic Innovation,” with Routledge Press (September 2015). She is a member of the Advisory Board of Monash University’s Better Governance and Policy research focus area and a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Technology Transfer. Professor Breznitz is a former member of the Ontario IP implementation panel, a former member of the Ontario Expert Panel on Intellectual Property and, in 2018, was a Co-PI on the University of Toronto Alumni Impact Survey.

Publications 

Noonan, D. S., Breznitz, S. M., and Maqbool, S. “Flocking to the Crowd: Cultural Entrepreneur Mobility Guided by Homophily, Market size, or Amenities?” Journal of Cultural Economics. Published online April 16, 2021.

Breznitz, S. M. and Zhang, Q. 2021. “Entrepreneurship education and firm creation.” Regional Studies Journal. Published online February 23, 2021.

Noonan, D. S., Breznitz, S. M., and Maqbool, S. 2021. “Looking for a Change in Scene: Analyzing the Mobility of Crowdfunding Entrepreneurs.” Small Business Economics. 57(2): 685–703.

Breznitz, S. M., and Noonan, D. S. 2020. “Crowdfunding in a Not-So-Flat World.” Journal of Economic Geography. 20(4): 1069–1092.

Breznitz, S. M. and Zhang, Q. 2020. “Determinants of graduates’ entrepreneurial activity.” Small Business Economics. 55(4): 1039-1056.