Intellectual Capital in Education

Since the beginning of the IC movement, universities are the subject of research, investigating issues such as intellectual property (Fine and Castagnera, 2003), management (Sanchez and Elena, 2006), research and development (Castellanos et al., 2004), and reporting (Sanchez et al., 2009; Low et al., 2015). These approaches are what Petty and Guthrie (2000) identify as second-stage IC research. However, more recently, research has focused on IC practice, or third-stage IC research (Guthrie et al., 2012) inside universities (Vincenza et al., 2013; Secundo et al., 2015; Vagnoni and Oppi, 2015).Additionally, research at the cutting edge is examining the third mission of universities from the perspective of technology transfer and innovation, continuing education, and social engagement (Secundo et al., 2016, p. 299). The latter is in line with Dumay and Garanina's (2013, p. 21) fourth stage of IC research which helps &quote;navigate the knowledge created by countries, cities and communities and advocates how knowledge can be widely developed thus switching from a managerial to an ecosystem focus&quote;. The transition from traditional academia to an enhanced third-mission role is crucial for transforming universities and higher education providers as they continue to consolidate their position as critical players in socio-economic development and regional growth (Foray et al., 2012; Kempton et al., 2013).Because of the interest in IC and educational institutions and their dynamic operating environment, new opportunities for future research are emerging (Guthrie and Dumay, 2015). This e-book is an outlet for that research. In this e-book, we present a variety of international studies at the forefront of IC in education research. In the following paragraphs, we highlight the themes represented in the papers.