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Assessing the Impact of University-Firm Collaboration on Firm
Performance and Regional Development
Sergio Manrique
SergioAndres.Manrique@uab.cat
@sergioman90
Objective
This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No.722295
This PhD thesis aims at assessing the
impact of the collaboration between
universities and firms. The study focuses
on the drivers and types of university –
firm collaboration, and examines how it
can aid the survival of firms in a global
and competitive market and how it
translates into regional development.
Methodology
Research Questions
❖What are the causes or motivations of university-firm collaboration?
❖What are the types of university-firm collaboration? And what mechanisms
does this collaboration take place through?
❖What are the impacts of university-firm collaboration on firm
performance?
❖What set(s) of motivations and mechanisms lead to better impacts?
❖How does university-firm collaboration enhance regional development?
University-Firm-Region Interaction
Working Hypothesis
Firstly, collaboration with university should
facilitate the innovation and development of
products, practices and governance at the firm
level, which would in turn lead to a higher
performance. Additionally, this collaboration
with university should facilitate the economic
growth and social development of the regions
where the interaction takes place.
Relevance
Who will benefit from this research?
❖
Firm Managers and Practitioners
, who want to understand how to
improve firm competitiveness through innovation based on university-firm
collaboration.
❖
University Directives
, who want to address adequately the university-firm
relationship and enhance the impact on regional development.
❖
Regional Policy Makers
, who want to design and implement policies to
enhance university-firm collaboration and translate it into economic growth
and social welfare.
Collaboration Impact Conceptual Model
Scientific Production
❖Manrique, S., & Nguyen, H. (2017, October 26th-27th).
Balancing
Regional Engagement and Internationalisation: The Case of
Autonomous University of Barcelona*
. Paper presented at the 12th
Regional Innovation Policies Conference, Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
* Chapter at forthcoming RUNIN Project book.
❖Manrique, S. (2018, September 5th-8th).
Personal Networks and Trust
in Public-Private R&D Partnerships: A Case Study from Spain**
. Paper
presented at the XVI International Triple Helix Conference, Manchester, UK.
** Triple Helix Association 2018 Early-Career Researcher Best Paper Award
.
❖Two quantitative papers in process.
Preliminary Results
❖UAB’s case study shows that universities with international vision
can also generate great regional impacts. UAB has a strong impact by its
intensive knowledge spillovers, technology transfer, and several projects
developed to solve regional public concerns. However, firms in the
region of Catalonia in general do not have culture/ideas to collaborate
with universities.
❖A study of UAB-Henkel partnership concludes that personal
relationships and trust have been determinant informal factors in the
success of this R&D partnership, in addition to institutional factors.
This collaboration, which serves as a representative case and pathfinder
for public-private R&D partnerships and university-firm interactions,
has had positive impacts on both university (pathway from basic
research to innovation, industry training) and firm (product
development, patents, talent detection, prestige), and is meant to have
positive effects on the region (employment, economic growth), which,
however, remain unclear.
❖Data from Spanish firms (PITEC) shows that research
collaborations are a phenomena with relevant presence and influence in
the R+D+i activities of firms in Spain. It also shows a positive
relationship between university-firm collaboration and
innovation/performance of firms.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
% of firms with product or process
innovation
Collaboration with University
Collaboration with University VS Innovation
0 €
50 €
100 €
150 €
200 €
250 €
0101010101010101010101
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Average firms’ sales
Million
Collaboration with University
Collaboration with University VS Sales