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Governance mode choice in collaborative Ph.D. projects

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  • Negin Salimi
  • Rudi Bekkers
  • Koen Frenken

Abstract

Joint Ph.D. projects are a prominent form of research collaboration, connecting universities to firms and public research organizations. When entering into such collaborations, partners need to make choices regarding a project’s governance. This paper investigates how a university and its partners govern such projects, including decision-making, daily management and disclosure policies. Earlier studies show that shared governance modes have had a higher success rate than centralized governance modes. Nevertheless, more than two thirds of the 191 joint Ph.D. projects we investigated opted for centralized rather than shared governance. Our findings show that: (1) geographical and/or cognitive distance render the adoption of a shared governance mode less likely; (2) the partner controlling critical resources tends to centralize governance, and (3) partnering firms are more likely to put restrictions on publication output than public research organizations. We therefore recommend that universities and their partners take these aspects into account when selecting such projects. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Negin Salimi & Rudi Bekkers & Koen Frenken, 2015. "Governance mode choice in collaborative Ph.D. projects," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 40(5), pages 840-858, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:kap:jtecht:v:40:y:2015:i:5:p:840-858
    DOI: 10.1007/s10961-014-9368-5
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    Cited by:

    1. Kasia Zalewska-Kurek & Rainer Harms, 2020. "Managing autonomy in university–industry research: a case of collaborative Ph.D. projects in the Netherlands," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 393-416, April.
    2. Negin Salimi & Jafar Rezaei, 2016. "Measuring efficiency of university-industry Ph.D. projects using best worst method," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 109(3), pages 1911-1938, December.
    3. Isabel Maria Bodas Freitas & Bart Verspagen, 2017. "The motivations, institutions and organization of university-industry collaborations in the Netherlands," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 27(3), pages 379-412, July.
    4. Plantec, Quentin & Cabanes, Benjamin & le Masson, Pascal & Weil, Benoit, 2023. "Early-career academic engagement in university–industry collaborative PhDs: Research orientation and project performance," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(9).
    5. Quentin Plantec & Benjamin Cabanes & Pascal Le Masson & Benoit Weil, 2021. "Market-Pull Or Research Push? Effects Of Research Orientations On University-Industry Collaborative Ph.D. Projects' Performances," Post-Print halshs-03190142, HAL.
    6. Quentin Plantec & Benjamin Cabanes & Pascal Le Masson & Benoit Weil, 2023. "Caractérisation et performances des thèses Cifre," Working Papers hal-04099283, HAL.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    University–industry collaboration; Collaborative Ph.D. project; Shared governance; Centralized governance; Proximity; Resource imbalances; Publication disclosure; D22; D23; D74; G34; L24; L33; O31; O32; O34;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • D23 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights
    • D74 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Conflict; Conflict Resolution; Alliances; Revolutions
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • L24 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Contracting Out; Joint Ventures

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