IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/96949.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Does Cooperation with Universities and KIBS Matter? Firm-level Evidence from Spain

Author

Listed:
  • Barge-Gil, Andrés
  • Vivas-Augier, Carlos

Abstract

This manuscript contributes to the literature on firm cooperation with universities and KIBS by framing the analysis according to the literature on causal effects, comparing the effect of the two different agents and exploring which firms benefit more from cooperation with a specific partner. Results shows that the lower bound for the effect is around 27-30% increase in sales from new products for both types of partners. After covariates and fixed effects are used, it is found that this effect is not likely driven by time-varying unobservable factors. Moreover, we show that firms that benefit the most from cooperation with universities are different from those firms that benefit the most from cooperation with KIBS.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:96949
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/96949/3/MPRA_paper_96949.pdf
    File Function: original version
    Download Restriction: no

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Birgit Aschhoff & Tobias Schmidt, 2008. "Empirical Evidence on the Success of R&D Cooperation—Happy Together?," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 33(1), pages 41-62, August.
    2. Pierre Mohnen & Jacques Mairesse & Marcel Dagenais, 2006. "Innovativity: A comparison across seven European countries," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 15(4-5), pages 391-413.
    3. Nicholas Bloom & Benn Eifert & Aprajit Mahajan & David McKenzie & John Roberts, 2013. "Does Management Matter? Evidence from India," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 128(1), pages 1-51.
    4. Gunnar Pippel & Vivian Seefeld, 2016. "R&D cooperation with scientific institutions: a difference-in-difference approach," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(5), pages 455-469, July.
    5. Miriam Bruhn & Dean Karlan & Antoinette Schoar, 2018. "The Impact of Consulting Services on Small and Medium Enterprises: Evidence from a Randomized Trial in Mexico," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 126(2), pages 635-687.
    6. Jonah B. Gelbach, 2016. "When Do Covariates Matter? And Which Ones, and How Much?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(2), pages 509-543.
    7. Tsai, Kuen-Hung & Hsieh, Ming-Hung, 2009. "How different types of partners influence innovative product sales: Does technological capacity matter?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 62(12), pages 1321-1328, December.
    8. Bruneel, Johan & D'Este, Pablo & Salter, Ammon, 2010. "Investigating the factors that diminish the barriers to university-industry collaboration," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(7), pages 858-868, September.
    9. Beise, Marian & Stahl, Harald, 1999. "Public research and industrial innovations in Germany," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 397-422, April.
    10. Adam Jaffe, 2008. "The “Science of Science Policy”: reflections on the important questions and the challenges they present," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 33(2), pages 131-139, April.
    11. Becker, Wolfgang & Dietz, Jurgen, 2004. "R&D cooperation and innovation activities of firms--evidence for the German manufacturing industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 209-223, March.
    12. Emily Oster, 2019. "Unobservable Selection and Coefficient Stability: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(2), pages 187-204, April.
    13. Bishop, Kate & D'Este, Pablo & Neely, Andy, 2011. "Gaining from interactions with universities: Multiple methods for nurturing absorptive capacity," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 30-40, February.
    14. René Belderbos & Martin Carree & Boris Lokshin, 2006. "Complementarity in R&D Cooperation Strategies," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 28(4), pages 401-426, June.
    15. Eom, Boo-Young & Lee, Keun, 2010. "Determinants of industry-academy linkages and, their impact on firm performance: The case of Korea as a latecomer in knowledge industrialization," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 625-639, June.
    16. Hyukjoon Kim & Yongtae Park, 2008. "The impact of R&D collaboration on innovative performance in Korea: A Bayesian network approach," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 75(3), pages 535-554, June.
    17. Joshua D. Angrist & Jörn-Steffen Pischke, 2009. "Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 8769.
    18. Muller, Emmanuel & Zenker, Andrea, 2001. "Business services as actors of knowledge transformation: the role of KIBS in regional and national innovation systems," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(9), pages 1501-1516, December.
    19. R. Harris & Q. C. Li & J. Moffat, 2011. "The impact of higher education institution-firm knowledge links on firm-level productivity in Britain," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(13), pages 1243-1246.
    20. Cohen, Wesley M & Klepper, Steven, 1996. "A Reprise of Size and R&D," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 106(437), pages 925-951, July.
    21. Guido W. Imbens & Jeffrey M. Wooldridge, 2009. "Recent Developments in the Econometrics of Program Evaluation," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(1), pages 5-86, March.
    22. Andrés Barge-Gil & Aurelia Modrego, 2011. "The impact of research and technology organizations on firm competitiveness. Measurement and determinants," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 36(1), pages 61-83, February.
    23. Kevin Mole & Mark Hart & Stephen Roper & David Saal, 2008. "Differential Gains from Business Link Support and Advice: A Treatment Effects Approach," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 26(2), pages 315-334, April.
    24. Chen, Jong-Rong & Kan, Kamhon & Tung, I-Hsuan, 2016. "Scientific linkages and firm productivity: Panel data evidence from Taiwanese electronics firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(7), pages 1449-1459.
    25. Bronwyn H. Hall & Albert N. Link & John T. Scott, 2003. "Universities as Research Partners," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 85(2), pages 485-491, May.
    26. Paul Almeida & Jan Hohberger & Pedro Parada, 2011. "Individual scientific collaborations and firm-level innovation," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press, vol. 20(6), pages 1571-1599, December.
    27. 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.
    28. 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.
    29. Nola Hewitt-Dundas, 2006. "Resource and Capability Constraints to Innovation in Small and Large Plants," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 257-277, April.
    30. Enrico Guzzini & Donato Iacobucci & Antonio Palestrini, 2018. "Collaboration for innovation and project failure. A dynamic analysis," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(8), pages 695-708, November.
    31. Negassi, S., 2004. "R&D co-operation and innovation a microeconometric study on French firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 365-384, April.
    32. Johan Lambrecht & Fabrice Pirnay, 2005. "An evaluation of public support measures for private external consultancies to SMEs in the Walloon Region of Belgium," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(2), pages 89-108, March.
    33. Belderbos, Rene & Carree, Martin & Lokshin, Boris, 2004. "Cooperative R&D and firm performance," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(10), pages 1477-1492, December.
    34. Miotti, Luis & Sachwald, Frederique, 2003. "Co-operative R&D: why and with whom?: An integrated framework of analysis," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(8), pages 1481-1499, September.
    35. Cumming, Douglas J. & Fischer, Eileen, 2012. "Publicly funded business advisory services and entrepreneurial outcomes," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 467-481.
    36. Robert Bennett & Paul Robson, 2003. "Changing Use of External Business Advice and Government Supports by SMEs in the 1990s," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(8), pages 795-811.
    37. Andræs Barge-Gil, 2013. "Open Strategies and Innovation Performance," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(7), pages 585-610, October.
    38. P. J. A. Robson & R. J. Bennett, 2000. "The use and impact of business advice by SMEs in Britain: an empirical assessment using logit and ordered logit models," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 32(13), pages 1675-1688.
    39. Arora, Ashish & Cohen, Wesley M. & Walsh, John P., 2016. "The acquisition and commercialization of invention in American manufacturing: Incidence and impact," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(6), pages 1113-1128.
    40. Bruno Cassiman & Reinhilde Veugelers, 2002. "R&D Cooperation and Spillovers: Some Empirical Evidence from Belgium," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(4), pages 1169-1184, September.
    41. Fabrizio, Kira R., 2009. "Absorptive capacity and the search for innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 255-267, March.
    42. de Faria, Pedro & Lima, Francisco & Santos, Rui, 2010. "Cooperation in innovation activities: The importance of partners," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(8), pages 1082-1092, October.
    43. James D. Adams & Eric P. Chiang & Jeffrey L. Jensen, 2003. "The Influence of Federal Laboratory R&D on Industrial Research," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 85(4), pages 1003-1020, November.
    44. Steve Johnson & Don J Webber & Wayne Thomas, 2007. "Which SMEs Use External Business Advice? A Multivariate Subregional Study," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 39(8), pages 1981-1997, August.
    45. Cristiano Antonelli & Claudio Fassio, 2018. "The role of external knowledge in the introduction of product and process innovations," Chapters, in: The Evolutionary Complexity of Endogenous Innovation, chapter 5, pages 109-127, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    46. Jaider Vega-Jurado & Antonio Gutiérrez-Gracia & Ignacio Fernández-de-Lucio, 2009. "Does external knowledge sourcing matter for innovation? Evidence from the Spanish manufacturing industry," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press, vol. 18(4), pages 637-670, August.
    47. Andres Barge-Gil, 2010. "Open, Semi-Open and Closed Innovators: Towards an Explanation of Degree of Openness," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(6), pages 577-607.
    48. Mark Freel & Richard Harrison, 2006. "Innovation and cooperation in the small firm sector: Evidence from 'Northern Britain'," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(4), pages 289-305.
    49. 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.
    50. José L. González-Pernía & Graciela Kuechle & Iñaki Peña-Legazkue, 2013. "An Assessment of the Determinants of University Technology Transfer," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 27(1), pages 6-17, February.
    51. Manuel Arellano & Stephen Bond, 1991. "Some Tests of Specification for Panel Data: Monte Carlo Evidence and an Application to Employment Equations," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 58(2), pages 277-297.
    52. Belderbos, Rene & Carree, Martin & Lokshin, Boris, 2004. "Cooperative R&D and firm performance," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(10), pages 1477-1492, December.
    53. Tether, Bruce S. & Tajar, Abdelouahid, 2008. "Beyond industry-university links: Sourcing knowledge for innovation from consultants, private research organisations and the public science-base," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(6-7), pages 1079-1095, July.
    54. Carlos Vivas & Andrés Barge-Gil, 2015. "Impact On Firms Of The Use Of Knowledge External Sources: A Systematic Review Of The Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(5), pages 943-964, December.
    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. Carlos Vivas & Andrés Barge-Gil, 2015. "Impact On Firms Of The Use Of Knowledge External Sources: A Systematic Review Of The Literature," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(5), pages 943-964, December.
    2. Vivas-Augier, Carlos & Barge-Gil, Andrés, 2012. "Impact on firms of the use of knowledge providers: a systematic review of the literature," MPRA Paper 41042, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Erika Raquel Badillo & Rosina Moreno, 2014. "“Does absorptive capacity determine collaborative research returns to innovation? A geographical dimension”," AQR Working Papers 201416, University of Barcelona, Regional Quantitative Analysis Group, revised Oct 2014.
    4. Seo, Hangyeol & Chung, Yanghon & Yoon, Hyungseok (David), 2017. "R&D cooperation and unintended innovation performance: Role of appropriability regimes and sectoral characteristics," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 66, pages 28-42.
    5. Gkypali, Areti & Arvanitis, Spyros & Tsekouras, Kostas, 2018. "Absorptive capacity, exporting activities, innovation openness and innovation performance: A SEM approach towards a unifying framework," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 143-155.
    6. 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 - Center for Innovation Research.
    7. Giannopoulou, Eleni & Barlatier, Pierre-Jean & Pénin, Julien, 2019. "Same but different? Research and technology organizations, universities and the innovation activities of firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 223-233.
    8. Scandura, Alessandra, 2016. "University–industry collaboration and firms’ R&D effort," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(9), pages 1907-1922.
    9. Ángela Vásquez-Urriago & Andrés Barge-Gil & Aurelia Rico & Evita Paraskevopoulou, 2014. "The impact of science and technology parks on firms’ product innovation: empirical evidence from Spain," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 835-873, September.
    10. René Belderbos & Martin Carree & Boris Lokshin & Juan Fernández Sastre, 2015. "Inter-temporal patterns of R&D collaboration and innovative performance," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 40(1), pages 123-137, February.
    11. Erika Raquel Badillo & Rosina Moreno, 2014. "“Are R&D collaborative agreements persistent at the firm level? Empirical evidence for the Spanish case”," IREA Working Papers 201410, University of Barcelona, Research Institute of Applied Economics, revised Mar 2014.
    12. Erika & Rosina, 2016. "“Technological cooperation in Spanish firms”," IREA Working Papers 201601, University of Barcelona, Research Institute of Applied Economics, revised Jan 2016.
    13. Gallego, Jorge & Rubalcaba, Luis & Suárez, Cristina, 2013. "Knowledge for innovation in Europe: The role of external knowledge on firms' cooperation strategies," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(10), pages 2034-2041.
    14. Erika Raquel Badillo & Francisco Llorente & Rosina Moreno, 2014. "“Cooperation in R&D, firm size and type of partnership: Evidence for the Spanish automotive industry”," AQR Working Papers 201417, University of Barcelona, Regional Quantitative Analysis Group, revised Oct 2014.
    15. Beck, Mathias & Junge, Martin & Kaiser, Ulrich, 2017. "Public Funding and Corporate Innovation," IZA Discussion Papers 11196, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    16. Manuela Gussoni, 2009. "The determinants of inter-firms R&D cooperation and partner selection. A literature overview," Discussion Papers 2009/86, Dipartimento di Economia e Management (DEM), University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
    17. Andræs Barge-Gil, 2013. "Open Strategies and Innovation Performance," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(7), pages 585-610, October.
    18. Hewitt-Dundas, Nola & Gkypali, Areti & Roper, Stephen, 2019. "Does learning from prior collaboration help firms to overcome the ‘two-worlds’ paradox in university-business collaboration?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(5), pages 1310-1322.
    19. de Leeuw, Tim & Lokshin, Boris & Duysters, Geert, 2014. "Returns to alliance portfolio diversity: The relative effects of partner diversity on firm's innovative performance and productivity," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(9), pages 1839-1849.
    20. Francesco Aiello & Paola Cardamone & Lidia Mannarino & Valeria Pupo, 2020. "Does External R&D Matter For Family Firm Innovation? Evidence From The Italian Manufacturing Industry," Working Papers 202002, Università della Calabria, Dipartimento di Economia, Statistica e Finanza "Giovanni Anania" - DESF.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    firm cooperation; universities; KIBS; treatment effects; heterogeneity; policy matching.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L24 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Contracting Out; Joint Ventures
    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

    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:pra:mprapa:96949. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: (Joachim Winter). General contact details of provider: http://edirc.repec.org/data/vfmunde.html .

    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 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.

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

    IDEAS is a RePEc service hosted by the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis . RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.