IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jknowl/v14y2023i2d10.1007_s13132-021-00873-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Systems Evaluation of University-Industry Collaboration Efficiency in Iran: Current Situation and Proposed Policy Framework

Author

Listed:
  • Gerry Edgar

    (University of Stirling)

  • Omid Ali Kharazmi

    (Ferdowsi University of Mashhad)

Abstract

The research objective is to develop system models of the university-industry collaboration (UIC) element of a national innovation system and to evaluate its potential as a framework to inform economic policies. A UIC system model for Iran was developed and applied to explore key policy concerns, current performance, and barriers to development. A mixed-method approach was used. Firstly, a survey was used to scope system elements from the input of 94 expert stakeholders and to establish related issues. An insight of the difference between university and industry actors’ views regarding problems of UIC effectiveness was also formed. Secondly, 25 semi-structured interviews with stakeholders were used for building the conceptual model of the UIC system. Quantitative data were analyzed with Mann–Whitney U test, and for analyzing interviews, theme analysis was applied. Analysis of the causal relationships in the UIC model indicated there are a range of barriers that maintain a predominant negative behaviour pattern that limits UIC performance. This negative equilibrium is manifest as significant lack of trust at all interfaces in the system. The systems model is a complex interaction of reinforcing loops that emphasizes the scale of challenge policy-makers face in creating effective UIC outcomes. A set of policy choices informs an improvement agenda for UIC activities in Iran. This method is a framework to address the current lack of effective approaches to aid understanding of the complexity of behavioural forces that can help politicians to form coherent policies that address often hidden systematic biases.

Suggested Citation

  • Gerry Edgar & Omid Ali Kharazmi, 2023. "Systems Evaluation of University-Industry Collaboration Efficiency in Iran: Current Situation and Proposed Policy Framework," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 14(2), pages 645-675, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jknowl:v:14:y:2023:i:2:d:10.1007_s13132-021-00873-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s13132-021-00873-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s13132-021-00873-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s13132-021-00873-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Etzkowitz, Henry & Leydesdorff, Loet, 2000. "The dynamics of innovation: from National Systems and "Mode 2" to a Triple Helix of university-industry-government relations," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 109-123, February.
    2. Niosi, Jorge & Bas, Tomas G, 2001. "The Competencies of Regions--Canada's Clusters in Biotechnology," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 17(1-2), pages 31-42, Aug.-Sept.
    3. Lee, Ting-Lin & von Tunzelmann, Nick, 2005. "A dynamic analytic approach to national innovation systems: The IC industry in Taiwan," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 425-440, May.
    4. Watkins, Andrew & Papaioannou, Theo & Mugwagwa, Julius & Kale, Dinar, 2015. "National innovation systems and the intermediary role of industry associations in building institutional capacities for innovation in developing countries: A critical review of the literature," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(8), pages 1407-1418.
    5. Yazdan Moradi & Siamak Noori, 2020. "Entrepreneurial Cooperation Model between University and SMEs: A Case Study in Iran," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-22, November.
    6. Metcalfe, Stan & Ramlogan, Ronnie, 2008. "Innovation systems and the competitive process in developing economies," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 433-446, May.
    7. Juan Jesus Arenas & Domingo González, 2018. "Technology Transfer Models and Elements in the University-Industry Collaboration," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-17, June.
    8. Malin Tillmar, 2006. "Swedish tribalism and Tanzanian entrepreneurship: preconditions for trust formation," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(2), pages 91-107, March.
    9. Davenport, Sally, 2004. "Panic and panacea: brain drain and science and technology human capital policy," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 617-630, May.
    10. Inzelt, Annamaria, 2004. "The evolution of university-industry-government relationships during transition," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(6-7), pages 975-995, September.
    11. Debackere, Koenraad & Veugelers, Reinhilde, 2005. "The role of academic technology transfer organizations in improving industry science links," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 321-342, April.
    12. 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.
    13. Akbar E. Torbat, 2005. "Impacts of the US Trade and Financial Sanctions on Iran," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(3), pages 407-434, March.
    14. Aymen A. Kayal, 2008. "National innovation systems a proposed framework for developing countries," International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 8(1), pages 74-86.
    15. Jean-Jacques Degroof & Edward B. Roberts, 2004. "Overcoming Weak Entrepreneurial Infrastructures for Academic Spin-Off Ventures," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 29(3_4), pages 327-352, August.
    16. Taran Thune, 2007. "University-industry collaboration: The network embeddedness approach," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 34(3), pages 158-168, April.
    17. Aristidis Bitzenis, 2003. "What Was Behind the Delay in the Bulgarian Privatization Process? : Determining Incentives and Barriers of Privatization as a Way of Foreign Entry," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(5), pages 58-82, September.
    18. Sharif, Naubahar, 2006. "Emergence and development of the National Innovation Systems concept," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 745-766, June.
    19. Wirsich, Alexander & Kock, Alexander & Strumann, Christoph & Schultz, Carsten, 2016. "Effects of University Industry Collaboration on Technological Newness," Publications of Darmstadt Technical University, Institute for Business Studies (BWL) 85098, Darmstadt Technical University, Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law, Institute for Business Studies (BWL).
    20. InÉs Macho‐Stadler & David Pérez‐Castrillo & Reinhilde Veugelers, 2008. "Designing Contracts for University Spin‐offs," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(1), pages 185-218, March.
    21. Kodama, Toshihiro, 2008. "The role of intermediation and absorptive capacity in facilitating university-industry linkages--An empirical study of TAMA in Japan," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 1224-1240, September.
    22. Todtling, Franz & Trippl, Michaela, 2005. "One size fits all?: Towards a differentiated regional innovation policy approach," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(8), pages 1203-1219, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Souzanchi Kashani, Ebrahim & Roshani, Saeed, 2019. "Evolution of innovation system literature: Intellectual bases and emerging trends," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 68-80.
    2. Erzurumlu, S. Sinan & Erzurumlu, Yaman O. & Yoon, YongKi, 2022. "National innovation systems and dynamic impact of institutional structures on national innovation capability: A configurational approach with the OKID method," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    3. Thanos Fragkandreas, 2023. "Case study research on innovation systems: paradox, dialectical analysis and resolution," Working Papers 65, Birkbeck Centre for Innovation Management Research, revised 15 May 2023.
    4. Coenen, Lars & Benneworth, Paul & Truffer, Bernhard, 2012. "Toward a spatial perspective on sustainability transitions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 968-979.
    5. Natalie Holden, 2015. "An exploration of interactive contextual and dispositional factors which influence a collective process of entrepreneurial activity: a novel case at Bristol Zoo," Working Papers 27, Birkbeck Centre for Innovation Management Research, revised Nov 2015.
    6. Watkins, Andrew & Papaioannou, Theo & Mugwagwa, Julius & Kale, Dinar, 2015. "National innovation systems and the intermediary role of industry associations in building institutional capacities for innovation in developing countries: A critical review of the literature," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(8), pages 1407-1418.
    7. Dahesh, Mehran Badin & Tabarsa, Gholamali & Zandieh, Mostafa & Hamidizadeh, Mohammadreza, 2020. "Reviewing the intellectual structure and evolution of the innovation systems approach: A social network analysis," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    8. Thanos Fragkandreas, 2021. "Innovation Systems and Income Inequality: In Search of Causal Mechanisms," Working Papers 56, Birkbeck Centre for Innovation Management Research, revised Nov 2021.
    9. Isabel Diez-Vial & Angeles Montoro-Sanchez, 2017. "Research evolution in science parks and incubators: foundations and new trends," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 110(3), pages 1243-1272, March.
    10. Crespo, Nuno Fernandes & Crespo, Cátia Fernandes, 2016. "Global innovation index: Moving beyond the absolute value of ranking with a fuzzy-set analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(11), pages 5265-5271.
    11. Pedro López-Rubio & Norat Roig-Tierno & Alicia Mas-Tur, 2020. "Regional innovation system research trends: toward knowledge management and entrepreneurial ecosystems," International Journal of Quality Innovation, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 1-16, December.
    12. Zhelyu Vladimirov, 2018. "Discussing Innovation Policy Biases in the New EU Member States," Economic Studies journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 5, pages 3-26.
    13. Igors Skute & Kasia Zalewska-Kurek & Isabella Hatak & Petra Weerd-Nederhof, 2019. "Mapping the field: a bibliometric analysis of the literature on university–industry collaborations," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 44(3), pages 916-947, June.
    14. Berna Sezen Özen & Tüzin Baycan, 2022. "Regional Innovation Performances in Turkey," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-34, August.
    15. Robert Rybnicek & Roland Königsgruber, 2019. "What makes industry–university collaboration succeed? A systematic review of the literature," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 89(2), pages 221-250, March.
    16. Bryn Lander, 2013. "Sectoral collaboration in biomedical research and development," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 94(1), pages 343-357, January.
    17. Caloffi, Annalisa & Colovic, Ana & Rizzoli, Valentina & Rossi, Federica, 2023. "Innovation intermediaries' types and functions: A computational analysis of the literature," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    18. Battaglia, Daniele & Landoni, Paolo & Rizzitelli, Francesco, 2017. "Organizational structures for external growth of University Technology Transfer Offices: An explorative analysis," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 45-56.
    19. Xiaoran Zheng & Yuzhuo Cai, 2022. "Transforming Innovation Systems into Innovation Ecosystems: The Role of Public Policy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-26, June.
    20. Dodgson, Mark & Hughes, Alan & Foster, John & Metcalfe, Stan, 2011. "Systems thinking, market failure, and the development of innovation policy: The case of Australia," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(9), pages 1145-1156.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:jknowl:v:14:y:2023:i:2:d:10.1007_s13132-021-00873-z. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.