IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/iso/educat/0117.html

Some searches may not work properly. We apologize for the inconvenience.

   My bibliography  Save this paper

Regional Innovation Effects of Applied Research Institutions

Author

Listed:
  • Curdin Pfister

    (Department of Business Administration, University of Zurich)

  • Miriam Koomen

    (Swiss National Bank)

  • Dietmar Harhoff

    (Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition, Munich)

  • Uschi Backes-Gellner

    (Department of Business Administration, University of Zurich)

Abstract

We analyze the effect of applied research institutions on regional innovation activity. Exploiting a policy reform that created tertiary education institutions conducting applied research, the Universities of Applied Sciences (UASs) in Switzerland, we apply difference-in-differences estimations to investigate their effect on innovation quantity and quality. Findings show a 6.8% increase in regional patenting activity (i.e., quantity), and an increase of patent quality of up to 9.7% (measured by patent family size, and the number of claims, and citations per patent). Findings are robust to various model specifications, suggesting that applied research taught in UASs boosts regional innovation.

Suggested Citation

  • Curdin Pfister & Miriam Koomen & Dietmar Harhoff & Uschi Backes-Gellner, 2016. "Regional Innovation Effects of Applied Research Institutions," Economics of Education Working Paper Series 0117, University of Zurich, Department of Business Administration (IBW), revised Jan 2021.
    • Handle: RePEc:iso:educat:0117
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://repec.business.uzh.ch/RePEc/iso/leadinghouse/0117_lhwpaper.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lanjouw, Jean O & Schankerman, Mark, 2001. "Characteristics of Patent Litigation: A Window on Competition," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 32(1), pages 129-151, Spring.
    2. Valero, Anna & Van Reenen, John, 2019. "The economic impact of universities: Evidence from across the globe," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 53-67.
    3. Jaison R. Abel & Todd M. Gabe & Kevin Stolarick, 2014. "Skills across the Urban–Rural Hierarchy," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(4), pages 499-517, December.
    4. Manuel Trajtenberg, 1990. "A Penny for Your Quotes: Patent Citations and the Value of Innovations," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 21(1), pages 172-187, Spring.
    5. Feldman, Maryann P. & Kogler, Dieter F., 2010. "Stylized Facts in the Geography of Innovation," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 381-410, Elsevier.
    6. Moretti, Enrico, 2011. "Local Labor Markets," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 14, pages 1237-1313, Elsevier.
    7. Mark D. Partridge & Dan S. Rickman & Kamar Ali & M. Rose Olfert, 2009. "Do New Economic Geography agglomeration shadows underlie current population dynamics across the urban hierarchy?," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 88(2), pages 445-466, June.
    8. Bronwyn H. Hall & Adam Jaffe & Manuel Trajtenberg, 2005. "Market Value and Patent Citations," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 36(1), pages 16-38, Spring.
    9. Adam B. Jaffe & Manuel Trajtenberg & Rebecca Henderson, 1993. "Geographic Localization of Knowledge Spillovers as Evidenced by Patent Citations," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 108(3), pages 577-598.
    10. repec:fth:harver:1473 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Edward L. Glaeser & Bruce I. Sacerdote & Jose A. Scheinkman, 2003. "The Social Multiplier," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 1(2-3), pages 345-353, 04/05.
    12. Sharon Belenzon & Mark Schankerman, 2013. "Spreading the Word: Geography, Policy, and Knowledge Spillovers," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(3), pages 884-903, July.
    13. Rosenthal, Stuart S. & Strange, William C., 2001. "The Determinants of Agglomeration," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 191-229, September.
    14. Cowan, Robin & Zinovyeva, Natalia, 2013. "University effects on regional innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 788-800.
    15. Luc Anselin & Attila Varga & Zoltan Acs, 2008. "Local Geographic Spillovers Between University Research and High Technology Innovations," Chapters, in: Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy, chapter 9, pages 95-121, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    16. Otto Toivanen & Lotta Väänänen, 2016. "Education and Invention," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 98(2), pages 382-396, May.
    17. Feldman, Maryann P. & Audretsch, David B., 1999. "Innovation in cities:: Science-based diversity, specialization and localized competition," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 409-429, February.
    18. Jaffe, Adam B, 1989. "Real Effects of Academic Research," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 79(5), pages 957-970, December.
    19. Yi Che & Lei Zhang, 2018. "Human Capital, Technology Adoption and Firm Performance: Impacts of China's Higher Education Expansion in the Late 1990s," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 128(614), pages 2282-2320, September.
    20. Christian Helmers & Henry G. Overman, 2017. "My Precious! The Location and Diffusion of Scientific Research: Evidence from the Synchrotron Diamond Light Source," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 127(604), pages 2006-2040, September.
    21. D. Schartinger & C. Rammer & J. Fröhlich, 2006. "Knowledge Interactions between Universities and Industry in Austria: Sectoral Patterns and Determinants," Springer Books, in: Innovation, Networks, and Knowledge Spillovers, chapter 7, pages 135-166, Springer.
    22. Andersson, Fredrik & Burgess, Simon & Lane, Julia I., 2007. "Cities, matching and the productivity gains of agglomeration," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 112-128, January.
    23. Andersson, Roland & Quigley, John M. & Wilhelmsson, Mats, 2009. "Urbanization, productivity, and innovation: Evidence from investment in higher education," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 2-15, July.
    24. Maskell, Peter & Malmberg, Anders, 1999. "Localised Learning and Industrial Competitiveness," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 23(2), pages 167-185, March.
    25. Stefano Usai, 2011. "The Geography of Inventive Activity in OECD Regions," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(6), pages 711-731.
    26. Zvi Griliches, 1998. "Issues in Assessing the Contribution of Research and Development to Productivity Growth," NBER Chapters, in: R&D and Productivity: The Econometric Evidence, pages 17-45, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    27. Aaron Chatterji & Edward Glaeser & William Kerr, 2014. "Clusters of Entrepreneurship and Innovation," Innovation Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 14(1), pages 129-166.
    28. Carlino, Gerald A. & Chatterjee, Satyajit & Hunt, Robert M., 2007. "Urban density and the rate of invention," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(3), pages 389-419, May.
    29. Shimeng Liu, 2015. "Spillovers from Universities: Evidence from the Land-Grant Program," Working Paper 9410, USC Lusk Center for Real Estate.
    30. Beatrix Eugster & Rafael Lalive & Andreas Steinhauer & Josef Zweimüller, 2011. "The Demand for Social Insurance: Does Culture Matter?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 121(556), pages 413-448, November.
    31. Muehlemann, Samuel & Wolter, Stefan C., 2011. "Firm-sponsored training and poaching externalities in regional labor markets," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 560-570.
    32. Dietmar Harhoff & Francis Narin & F. M. Scherer & Katrin Vopel, 1999. "Citation Frequency And The Value Of Patented Inventions," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 81(3), pages 511-515, August.
    33. Lehnert, Patrick & Pfister, Curdin & Backes-Gellner, Uschi, 2020. "Employment of R&D personnel after an educational supply shock: Effects of the introduction of Universities of Applied Sciences in Switzerland," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    34. Harhoff, Dietmar & Scherer, Frederic M. & Vopel, Katrin, 2003. "Citations, family size, opposition and the value of patent rights," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(8), pages 1343-1363, September.
    35. Harhoff, Dietmar & Gambardella, Alfonso & Verspagen, Bart, 2008. "The Value of European Patents," CEPR Discussion Papers 6848, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    36. Wooldridge, Jeffrey M., 1999. "Distribution-free estimation of some nonlinear panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 90(1), pages 77-97, May.
    37. Simone Balestra & Uschi Backes-Gellner, 2017. "When a Door Closes, a Window Opens? Long-Term Labor Market Effects of Involuntary Separations," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 18(1), pages 1-21, February.
    38. Zoltan J. Acs & Luc Anselin & Attila Varga, 2008. "Patents and Innovation Counts as Measures of Regional Production of New Knowledge," Chapters, in: Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy, chapter 11, pages 135-151, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    39. Mansfield, Edwin & Lee, Jeong-Yeon, 1996. "The modern university: contributor to industrial innovation and recipient of industrial R&D support," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 25(7), pages 1047-1058, October.
    40. Samuel Muehlemann & Paul Ryan & Stefan C. Wolter, 2013. "Monopsony Power, Pay Structure, and Training," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 66(5), pages 1097-1114, October.
    41. Audretsch, David B & Stephan, Paula E, 1996. "Company-Scientist Locational Links: The Case of Biotechnology," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(3), pages 641-652, June.
    42. Giuri, Paola & Mariani, Myriam, 2007. "Inventors and invention processes in Europe: Results from the PatVal-EU survey," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(8), pages 1105-1106, October.
    43. Salinas, Paula & Solé-Ollé, Albert, 2018. "Partial fiscal decentralization reforms and educational outcomes: A difference-in-differences analysis for Spain," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 31-46.
    44. Christian Helmers & Henry G. Overman, 2017. "My Precious! The Location and Diffusion of Scientific Research: Evidence from the Synchrotron Diamond Light Source," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 127(604), pages 2006-2040, September.
    45. Bengt-ake Lundvall & Bjorn Johnson, 1994. "The Learning Economy," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 1(2), pages 23-42.
    46. Zvi Griliches, 1998. "Patent Statistics as Economic Indicators: A Survey," NBER Chapters, in: R&D and Productivity: The Econometric Evidence, pages 287-343, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    47. Patricia Funk & Christina Gathmann, 2013. "How Do Electoral Systems Affect Fiscal Policy? Evidence From Cantonal Parliaments, 1890–2000," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 11(5), pages 1178-1203, October.
    48. Bonander, Carl & Jakobsson, Niklas & Podestà, Federico & Svensson, Mikael, 2016. "Universities as engines for regional growth? Using the synthetic control method to analyze the effects of research universities," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 198-207.
    49. J. M. C. Santos Silva & Silvana Tenreyro, 2006. "The Log of Gravity," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 88(4), pages 641-658, November.
    50. Nagaoka, Sadao & Motohashi, Kazuyuki & Goto, Akira, 2010. "Patent Statistics as an Innovation Indicator," 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 1083-1127, Elsevier.
    51. Rosenberg, Nathan & Nelson, Richard R., 1994. "American universities and technical advance in industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 323-348, May.
    52. Rosenthal, Stuart S. & Strange, William C., 2008. "The attenuation of human capital spillovers," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 373-389, September.
    53. Mark D. Partridge & Dan S. Rickman, 2008. "Distance From Urban Agglomeration Economies And Rural Poverty," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(2), pages 285-310, May.
    54. Chris Forman & Avi Goldfarb & Shane Greenstein, 2016. "Agglomeration of Invention in the Bay Area: Not Just ICT," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(5), pages 146-151, May.
    55. Dietmar Harhoff, 2016. "Patent Quality and Examination in Europe," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(5), pages 193-197, May.
    56. Liu, Shimeng, 2015. "Spillovers from universities: Evidence from the land-grant program," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 25-41.
    57. Jean O. Lanjouw & Mark Schankerman, 2004. "Patent Quality and Research Productivity: Measuring Innovation with Multiple Indicators," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 114(495), pages 441-465, April.
    58. Mariagrazia Squicciarini & Hélène Dernis & Chiara Criscuolo, 2013. "Measuring Patent Quality: Indicators of Technological and Economic Value," OECD Science, Technology and Industry Working Papers 2013/3, OECD Publishing.
    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. Tobias Schlegel & Curdin Pfister & Dietmar Harhoff & Uschi Backes-Gellner, 2022. "Innovation effects of universities of applied sciences: an assessment of regional heterogeneity," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 47(1), pages 63-118, February.
    2. Carlino, Gerald & Kerr, William R., 2015. "Agglomeration and Innovation," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 349-404, Elsevier.
    3. repec:bof:bofrdp:urn:nbn:fi:bof-201512111472 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. repec:zbw:bofrdp:urn:nbn:fi:bof-201512111472 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Carlino, Gerald & Kerr, William R., 2015. "Agglomeration and Innovation," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 349-404, Elsevier.
    6. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2015_027 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Alessandra Scandura, 2019. "The role of scientific and market knowledge in the inventive process: evidence from a survey of industrial inventors," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 44(4), pages 1029-1069, August.
    8. Gerald A. Carlino & Robert M. Hunt, 2009. "What explains the quantity and quality of local inventive activity?," Working Papers 09-12, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
    9. Andrea Bonaccorsi & Daniele Biancardi & Mabel Sanchez Barrioluengo & Federico Biagi, 2019. "Study on Higher Education Institutions and Local Development," JRC Research Reports JRC117272, Joint Research Centre.
    10. Albino, Vito & Ardito, Lorenzo & Dangelico, Rosa Maria & Messeni Petruzzelli, Antonio, 2014. "Understanding the development trends of low-carbon energy technologies: A patent analysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 836-854.
    11. Leten, Bart & Landoni, Paolo & Van Looy, Bart, 2014. "Science or graduates: How do firms benefit from the proximity of universities?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(8), pages 1398-1412.
    12. Manuel Acosta & Daniel Coronado & Esther Ferrándiz & Manuel Jiménez, 2022. "Effects of knowledge spillovers between competitors on patent quality: what patent citations reveal about a global duopoly," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 47(5), pages 1451-1487, October.
    13. William R. Kerr & Frederic Robert-Nicoud, 2020. "Tech Clusters," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 34(3), pages 50-76, Summer.
    14. Antonio Messeni Petruzzelli & Daniele Rotolo & Vito Albino, 2014. "Determinants of Patent Citations in Biotechnology: An Analysis of Patent Influence Across the Industrial and Organizational Boundaries," SPRU Working Paper Series 2014-05, SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex Business School.
    15. Adam B. Jaffe & Gaétan de Rassenfosse, 2017. "Patent citation data in social science research: Overview and best practices," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 68(6), pages 1360-1374, June.
    16. Antoine Dechezleprêtre & Yann Ménière & Myra Mohnen, 2017. "International patent families: from application strategies to statistical indicators," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 111(2), pages 793-828, May.
    17. Wang, Fang, 2024. "Does the recombination of distant scientific knowledge generate valuable inventions? An analysis of pharmaceutical patents," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    18. Olof Ejermo & Urban Gråsjö, 2014. "Accessibility to R&D: a re-examination of the consequences for invention and innovation," Chapters, in: Charlie Karlsson & Börje Johansson & Kiyoshi Kobayashi & Roger R. Stough (ed.), Knowledge, Innovation and Space, chapter 3, pages 51-79, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    19. Pantelis Kazakis, 2019. "On the nexus between innovation, productivity and migration of US university graduates," Spatial Economic Analysis, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(4), pages 465-485, October.
    20. Acosta, Manuel & Coronado, Daniel & Martínez, M. Ángeles, 2012. "Spatial differences in the quality of university patenting: Do regions matter?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(4), pages 692-703.
    21. Roberta Capello & Camilla Lenzi, 2015. "The Knowledge–Innovation Nexus. Its Spatially Differentiated Returns to Innovation," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(3), pages 379-399, September.
    22. Robbiano, Simone, 2022. "The innovative impact of public research institutes: Evidence from Italy," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(10).
    23. Ebersberger, Bernd & Feit, Margarita & Mengis, Helen, 2023. "International knowledge interactions and catch-up. Evidence from European patent data for Chinese latecomer firms," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(2).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    innovation; applied R&D; higher education; patents; difference-in-differences;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes
    • O38 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Government Policy
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:iso:educat:0117. 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: Sara Brunner (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/isuzhch.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.