IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/edn/sirdps/176.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Impact of Higher Education Institution-Firm Knowledge Links on Firm-level Productivity in Britain

Author

Listed:
  • Harris, Richard
  • Moffat, John
  • Lib, Qian Cher

Abstract

This paper estimates whether both sourcing knowledge from and/or cooperating on innovation with HEIs (Higher Education Institutions)1 impacts on establishment-level total factor productivity (TFP) using a dataset created by merging the UK government’s Community Innovation Survey (CIS) with the Annual Respondents Database (ARD). It also considers whether higher graduate employment (as a measure of human capital) also impacts positively on TFP at the establishment-level. Many studies have investigated the relationship between university-firm knowledge links and innovation (see, for example, Mansfield, 1991; Becker, 2003; Thorn et al, 2007). Most of these studies find a positive impact. Fewer studies have investigated the impact of university-firm knowledge links on productivity. Belderbos et al. (2004), using the Dutch CIS, find that cooperation with universities has no statistically significant impact on the growth of labour productivity. Medda et al. (2005) find no statistically significant effect of collaborative research undertaken by Italian manufacturing firms and universities on the growth of TFP. Arvanitis et al. (2008), using Swiss data, show that university-firm knowledge and technology transfer has both a direct impact on labour productivity and an indirect impact through its positive impact on innovation. In sum, there is as yet no clear consensus as to the impact of university-firm knowledge links on productivity.

Suggested Citation

  • Harris, Richard & Moffat, John & Lib, Qian Cher, 2010. "The Impact of Higher Education Institution-Firm Knowledge Links on Firm-level Productivity in Britain," SIRE Discussion Papers 2010-65, Scottish Institute for Research in Economics (SIRE).
    • Handle: RePEc:edn:sirdps:176
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10943/176
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Crepon, B. & Duguet, E. & Mairesse, J., 1998. "Research Investment, Innovation and Productivity: An Econometric Analysis at the Firm Level," Papiers d'Economie Mathématique et Applications 98.15, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1).
    2. Giuseppe Medda & Claudio Piga & Donald S. Siegel, 2005. "University R&D and Firm Productivity: Evidence from Italy," Springer Books, in: Albert N. Link & F. M. Scherer (ed.), Essays in Honor of Edwin Mansfield, pages 145-151, Springer.
    3. Richard Blundell & Monica Costa Dias, 2009. "Alternative Approaches to Evaluation in Empirical Microeconomics," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 44(3).
    4. Mansfield, Edwin, 1991. "Academic research and industrial innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 1-12, February.
    5. Rajeev H. Dehejia & Sadek Wahba, 2002. "Propensity Score-Matching Methods For Nonexperimental Causal Studies," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 84(1), pages 151-161, February.
    6. Andrea Fosfuri & Massimo Motta, 1999. "Multinationals without Advantages," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 101(4), pages 617-630, December.
    7. repec:bla:scandj:v:101:y:1999:i:4:p:617-30 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Bruno Crepon & Emmanuel Duguet & Jacques Mairesse, 1998. "Research, Innovation And Productivity: An Econometric Analysis At The Firm Level," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 7(2), pages 115-158.
    9. Spyros Arvanitis & Nora Sydow & Martin Woerter, 2008. "Is there any Impact of University–Industry Knowledge Transfer on Innovation and Productivity? An Empirical Analysis Based on Swiss Firm Data," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 32(2), pages 77-94, March.
    10. James Love, 2003. "Technology sourcing versus technology exploitation: an analysis of US foreign direct investment flows," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(15), pages 1667-1678.
    11. Belderbos, Rene & Carree, Martin & Lokshin, Boris, 2004. "Cooperative R&D and firm performance," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(10), pages 1477-1492, December.
    12. Marotta, Daniela & Mark, Michael & Blom, Andreas & Thorn, Kristian, 2007. "Human capital and university-industry linkages'role in fostering firm innovation : an empirical study of Chile and Colombia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4443, The World Bank.
    13. Richard Harris, 2005. "Economics Of The Workplace: Special Issue Editorial," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 52(3), pages 323-343, July.
    14. Nigel Driffield & James H Love, 2007. "Linking FDI motivation and host economy productivity effects: conceptual and empirical analysis," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 38(3), pages 460-473, May.
    15. Zhong Zhao, 2004. "Using Matching to Estimate Treatment Effects: Data Requirements, Matching Metrics, and Monte Carlo Evidence," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(1), pages 91-107, February.
    16. Belderbos, Rene & Carree, Martin & Lokshin, Boris, 2004. "Cooperative R&D and firm performance," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(10), pages 1477-1492, December.
    17. Wolfgang Becker, 2003. "Evaluation of the Role of Universities in the Innovation Process," Discussion Paper Series 241, Universitaet Augsburg, Institute for Economics.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hermannsson, Kristinn & Lisenkova, Katerina & McGregor, Peter G., 2011. "The Expenditure Impacts of Individual Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and their Students on the Northern Irish Economy: Homogeneity or Heterogeneity?," SIRE Discussion Papers 2011-07, Scottish Institute for Research in Economics (SIRE).
    2. Paola Cardamone & Valeria Pupo & Fernanda Ricotta, 2012. "University And Firm Performance In The Italian Manufacturing Sector," Working Papers 201207, Università della Calabria, Dipartimento di Economia, Statistica e Finanza "Giovanni Anania" - DESF.
    3. Hermannsson, Kristinn & Lisenkova, Katerina & Lecca, Patrizio & McGregor, Peter G & Swales, J Kim, 2010. "The Importance of Graduates for the Scottish Economy: A Micro-to-Macro Approach," SIRE Discussion Papers 2010-80, Scottish Institute for Research in Economics (SIRE).
    4. Barge-Gil, Andrés & Vivas-Augier, Carlos, 2019. "Does Cooperation with Universities and KIBS Matter? Firm-level Evidence from Spain," MPRA Paper 96949, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Aiello, Francesco & Pupo, Valeria & Ricotta, Fernanda, 2013. "Firm heterogeneity in TFP, sectoral innovation and geography. Evidence from Italy," MPRA Paper 48573, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. John R. Madden, 2017. "University location and city development: the effects of Victoria University on the Western Melbourne economy," Centre of Policy Studies/IMPACT Centre Working Papers g-272, Victoria University, Centre of Policy Studies/IMPACT Centre.
    7. Hermannsson, Kristinn & Lisenkova, Katerina & Lecca, Patrizio & McGregor, Peter G. & Swales, Kim, 2012. "The system-wide impacts of the external benefits to higher education on the Scottish economy: An exploratory micro-to-macro approach," SIRE Discussion Papers 2012-70, Scottish Institute for Research in Economics (SIRE).
    8. Comin, Diego & Licht, Georg & Pellens, Maikel & Schubert, Torben, 2018. "Do Companies Benefit from Public Research Organizations? The Impact of the Fraunhofer Society in Germany," Papers in Innovation Studies 2018/7, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    9. Robert Waschik & Jonathan Chew & John Madden & Joshua Sidgwick & Glyn Wittwer, 2018. "The Economic Effects on Regional Australia of RUN-member Universities," Centre of Policy Studies/IMPACT Centre Working Papers g-286, Victoria University, Centre of Policy Studies/IMPACT Centre.
    10. David Morris & Enrico Vanino & Carlo Corradini, 2020. "Effect of regional skill gaps and skill shortages on firm productivity," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 52(5), pages 933-952, August.
    11. Kristinn Hermannsson & Katerina Lisenkova & Patrizio Lecca & J Kim Swales & Peter G McGregor, 2014. "The Regional Economic Impact of More Graduates in the Labour Market: A ‘Micro-to-Macro’ Analysis for Scotland," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 46(2), pages 471-487, February.
    12. Kristinn Hermannsson & Katerina Lisenkova & Patrizio Lecca & Peter McGregor & Kim Swales, 2012. "The system-wide impacts of the external benefits to higher education on the Scottish economy: An exploratory “micro-to-macro" approach," Working Papers 1204, University of Strathclyde Business School, Department of Economics.
    13. Paola Cardamone & Valeria Pupo & Fernanda Ricotta, 2016. "Do Firms Benefit from University Research? Evidence from Italy," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 2(3), pages 445-471, November.

    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. John Moffat, 2014. "Regional Selective Assistance in Scotland: Does it make a difference to plant productivity?," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 51(12), pages 2555-2571, September.
    2. Paola Cardamone & Valeria Pupo & Fernanda Ricotta, 2016. "Do Firms Benefit from University Research? Evidence from Italy," Italian Economic Journal: A Continuation of Rivista Italiana degli Economisti and Giornale degli Economisti, Springer;Società Italiana degli Economisti (Italian Economic Association), vol. 2(3), pages 445-471, November.
    3. Harris, Richard & Moffat, John, 2011. "Plant-level determinants of total factor productivity in Great Britain, 1997-2006," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 33561, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. Hall, B.H., 2011. "Innovation and productivity," MERIT Working Papers 2011-028, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    5. Mahmut Yaşar & Catherine Paul, 2012. "Firm performance and knowledge spillovers from academic, industrial and foreign linkages: the case of China," Journal of Productivity Analysis, Springer, vol. 38(3), pages 237-253, December.
    6. Amoroso, S., 2013. "Heterogeneity of innovative, collaborative, and productive firm-level processes," Other publications TiSEM f5784a49-7053-401d-855d-1, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    7. Baumann, Julian & Kritikos, Alexander S., 2016. "The link between R&D, innovation and productivity: Are micro firms different?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(6), pages 1263-1274.
    8. Maietta, Ornella Wanda, 2015. "Determinants of R&D University-Frim Collaboration and Its Impact on Innovation: a Perspective from the Italian Food and Drink Industry," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 225668, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    9. Paola Cardamone, 2018. "Firm innovation and spillovers in Italy: Does geographical proximity matter?," Letters in Spatial and Resource Sciences, Springer, vol. 11(1), pages 1-16, March.
    10. Maietta, Ornella Wanda, 2015. "Determinants of university–firm R&D collaboration and its impact on innovation: A perspective from a low-tech industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(7), pages 1341-1359.
    11. Daniela Bragoli & Flavia Cortelezzi & Massimiliano Rigon, 2023. "Firms' innovation and university cooperation. New evidence from a survey of Italian firms," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 1400, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    12. Thomas Bolli & Martin Woerter, 2013. "Competition and R&D cooperation with universities and competitors," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 38(6), pages 768-787, December.
    13. Scandura, Alessandra, 2016. "University–industry collaboration and firms’ R&D effort," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(9), pages 1907-1922.
    14. Robin, Stéphane & Schubert, Torben, 2013. "Cooperation with public research institutions and success in innovation: Evidence from France and Germany," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 149-166.
    15. Paola Cardamone & Valeria Pupo & Fernanda Ricotta, 2012. "University And Firm Performance In The Italian Manufacturing Sector," Working Papers 201207, Università della Calabria, Dipartimento di Economia, Statistica e Finanza "Giovanni Anania" - DESF.
    16. Xianzhong Cao & Bo Chen & Yuefang Si & Senlin Hu & Gang Zeng, 2021. "Spatio-temporal evolution and mechanism of regional innovation efficiency: Evidence from Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration of China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(7), pages 1-13, July.
    17. Graciela Corral De Zubielqui & Janice Jones & Laurence Lester, 2017. "KNOWLEDGE INFLOWS FROM MARKET- AND SCIENCE-BASED ACTORS, ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY, INNOVATION AND PERFORMANCE: A STUDY OF SMEs," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Joe Tidd (ed.), Promoting Innovation in New Ventures and Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprises, chapter 15, pages 359-391, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    18. Mairesse, Jacques & Mohnen, Pierre, 2010. "Using Innovation Surveys for Econometric Analysis," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 1129-1155, Elsevier.
    19. James Foreman-Peck, 2013. "Effectiveness and efficiency of SME innovation policy," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 55-70, June.
    20. Cassiman, Bruno & Veugelers, Reinhilde, 2007. "Are external technology sourcing strategies substitutes or complements? The case of embodied versus disembodied technology acquisition," IESE Research Papers D/672, IESE Business School.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D24 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Production; Cost; Capital; Capital, Total Factor, and Multifactor Productivity; Capacity
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:edn:sirdps:176. 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: Research Office (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/sireeuk.html .

    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.