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Are firms interested in collaborating with universities? An open-innovation perspective in countries of the South West European Space

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  • Sara Fernández López
  • Braulio Pérez Astray
  • David Rodeiro Pazos
  • Nuria Calvo

Abstract

Thi s paper explores the determinants of a firm’s interest in collaborating with universities and whether they differ by the technological level of the company’s industry. Based on the conceptual framework of open innovation (OI) model, it is included some aspects related to the transaction costs and roles of innovation diffusion that justifies the study of firm´s interest as previous step of an OI relation among firms and partners. The evidence is based on data collected through semi-structured interviews between January 2009 and October 2009, on a sample of 375 firms from three countries: Spain, Portugal, and France. The results indicate that more innovative firms tend to be more interested in collaborating with universities. The paper provides evidence that country factors also affect a firm’s intention of collaborating with universities. Finally, the results show that the determinants of a high-tech firm’s attitudes to cooperation differ from those found in a non-high-tech firm. In the future, the study of the determinants of those firms’ formal decision to cooperate may let us to understand whether the driving forces of both interest in and decision to cooperate differ. Copyright Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015

Suggested Citation

  • Sara Fernández López & Braulio Pérez Astray & David Rodeiro Pazos & Nuria Calvo, 2015. "Are firms interested in collaborating with universities? An open-innovation perspective in countries of the South West European Space," Service Business, Springer;Pan-Pacific Business Association, vol. 9(4), pages 637-662, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:svcbiz:v:9:y:2015:i:4:p:637-662
    DOI: 10.1007/s11628-014-0243-0
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    Cited by:

    1. Natália Lima Figueiredo & Cristina I. Fernandes & José Luis Abrantes, 2023. "Triple Helix Model: Cooperation in Knowledge Creation," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 14(2), pages 854-878, June.
    2. Fredrik Niclas Piro, 2019. "The R&D composition of European countries: concentrated versus dispersed profiles," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 119(2), pages 1095-1119, May.
    3. Yu Chen & Haoming Shi & Jun Ma & Victor Shi, 2020. "The Spatial Spillover Effect in Hi-Tech Industries: Empirical Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-16, February.
    4. María Jesús Rodríguez-Gulías & David Rodeiro-Pazos & Sara Fernández-López, 2017. "The effect of university and regional knowledge spillovers on firms’ performance: an analysis of the Spanish USOs," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 191-209, March.
    5. Marcin Baron, 2021. "Open Innovation Capacity of the Polish Universities," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 12(1), pages 73-95, March.
    6. Tobias Johannes Hertrich & Thomas Brenner, 2024. "What hampers research collaboration in a region?," Review of Regional Research: Jahrbuch für Regionalwissenschaft, Springer;Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung (GfR), vol. 44(2), pages 163-192, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    University industry collaboration; Innovation transfer; R&D; Academic entrepreneurship; M12;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • M12 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Personnel Management; Executives; Executive Compensation

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