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University-industry collaborations—The key to radical innovations?
[Universität-Industrie-Kooperationen – Der Schlüssel zu radikalen Innovationen?]

Author

Listed:
  • William Arant

    (University of Bremen)

  • Dirk Fornahl

    (University of Bremen)

  • Nils Grashof

    (University of Bremen)

  • Kolja Hesse

    (University of Bremen)

  • Cathrin Söllner

    (University of Bremen)

Abstract

Radical innovations are an important factor for long-term economic growth. Universities provide basic research and knowledge that form the basis for future innovations. Previous research has investigated the effects of universities, university-industry partnerships and proximity on factors such as innovations, knowledge spillovers, entrepreneurial activities, as well as regional growth, wealth and competitiveness. However, the role that university-industry collaborations play in radical innovations, mediated by various measures of proximity such as cognitive or geographic distance, has not yet been explored. With this study, we illuminate the conditions under which university-industry collaborations are the key to radical innovations in German firms. Combining firm, patent and subsidy data, we built a data set consisting of 8404 firms that patented between the years 2012 and 2014. Based on the patent data, we identified the emergence of radical innovations by using new technology combinations as a proxy for (radical) novelty. As our main independent variables, we computed the cognitive distance of firms, universities and research institutions as well as the geographic distance between these partners. We identified formal relationships through publicly supported R&D collaborations between universities, firms, and research institutions using the German subsidy catalogue. Our research is vital for understanding the conditions under which university-industry collaborations contribute to the creation of radical innovations. While not only closing a research gap, this paper has practical ramifications for companies, universities as well as policy-makers by evaluating the concrete effects of university-industry collaborations on the probability to generate radical innovations.

Suggested Citation

  • William Arant & Dirk Fornahl & Nils Grashof & Kolja Hesse & Cathrin Söllner, 2019. "University-industry collaborations—The key to radical innovations? [Universität-Industrie-Kooperationen – Der Schlüssel zu radikalen Innovationen?]," Review of Regional Research: Jahrbuch für Regionalwissenschaft, Springer;Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung (GfR), vol. 39(2), pages 119-141, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jahrfr:v:39:y:2019:i:2:d:10.1007_s10037-019-00133-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s10037-019-00133-3
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    3. Kolja Hesse, 2020. "Related to whom? The impact of organisational and regional capabilities on radical breakthroughs," Bremen Papers on Economics & Innovation 2005, University of Bremen, Faculty of Business Studies and Economics.
    4. Mariia Shkolnykova & Muhamed Kudic, 2020. "Who benefits from radical innovations of SMEs? - Empirical evidence from the German Biotechnology," Bremen Papers on Economics & Innovation 2003, University of Bremen, Faculty of Business Studies and Economics.
    5. Hong Liu & Zhihua Liu & Yongzeng Lai & Lin Li, 2021. "Factors Influencing Collaborative Innovation Project Performance: The Case of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-19, July.
    6. Shu Yu & Takaya Yuizono, 2021. "A Proximity Approach to Understanding University-Industry Collaborations for Innovation in Non-Local Context: Exploring the Catch-Up Role of Regional Absorptive Capacity," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-19, March.
    7. Hesse, Kolja, 2020. "Unlocking the radical potential of German innovators How can R&D policy foster radical innovation?," Papers in Innovation Studies 2020/5, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    8. Nils Grashof & Alexander Kopka, 2023. "Artificial intelligence and radical innovation: an opportunity for all companies?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(2), pages 771-797, August.
    9. Giovanni Abramo & Francesca Apponi & Ciriaco Andrea D'Angelo, 2022. "The geographic proximity effect on domestic cross-sector vis-a-vis intra-sector research collaborations," Papers 2202.10347, arXiv.org.
    10. Mathias Heidinger & Fabian Wenner & Sebastian Sager & Paul Sussmann & Alain Thierstein, 2023. "Where do knowledge-intensive firms locate in Germany?—An explanatory framework using exponential random graph modeling [Welche Standorte wählen wissensintensive Unternehmen in Deutschland? – Ein Er," Review of Regional Research: Jahrbuch für Regionalwissenschaft, Springer;Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung (GfR), vol. 43(1), pages 101-124, April.
    11. Giovanni Abramo & Francesca Apponi & Ciriaco Andrea D’Angelo, 2022. "The geographic proximity effect on domestic cross-sector vis-à-vis intra-sector research collaborations," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(6), pages 3505-3521, June.

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