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The role of Science Parks: a puzzle of growth, innovation and R&D investments

Author

Listed:
  • Francesco Lamperti

    (Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna
    CRIOS - Bocconi University
    MEDAlics, Research Centre for the Mediterranean Relations)

  • Roberto Mavilia

    (CRIOS - Bocconi University
    MEDAlics, Research Centre for the Mediterranean Relations
    University for Foreigners “Dante Alighieri”)

  • Simona Castellini

    (CRIOS - Bocconi University
    MEDAlics, Research Centre for the Mediterranean Relations)

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of Science Parks on growth and innovativeness of affiliated firms. Both the role and the effectiveness of these policy instruments in sustaining tenants’ performances are still open issues. We rely on unique Italian data and compare the performance of firms located within a park with a control sample of off-park firms. Firstly, we focus on the estimation of the treatment effect of being located within the park. Our results show a significant difference between on and off park firms with respect to their innovativeness and propensity to invest in R&D; to the contrary, firms’ growth appears unaffected by location effects. Secondly, we analyse what features of Science Parks drive the impact on the diverse measures of performance. Our main finding is that both patenting activity and R&D investments are actively sustained by the presence and quantity of research centres within the park. Growth remains a largely unexplained phenomenon and Gibrat law is found to hold robustly within the class of on-park firms.

Suggested Citation

  • Francesco Lamperti & Roberto Mavilia & Simona Castellini, 2017. "The role of Science Parks: a puzzle of growth, innovation and R&D investments," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 42(1), pages 158-183, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jtecht:v:42:y:2017:i:1:d:10.1007_s10961-015-9455-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s10961-015-9455-2
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Science Parks; Innovation; Growth; R&D investments;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General
    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance

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