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Theimpact of industry collaboration on research: Evidence from engineering academics in the UK

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Abstract

We study the impact of university-industry research collaborations on academic output, in terms of productivity and direction of research. We report findings from a longitudinal dataset on all the researchers from the engineering departments in the UK in the last 20 years. We control for the endogeneity caused by the dynamic nature of research and the existence of reverse causality. Our results indicate that researchers with industrial links publish significantly more. Productivity, though, is higher for low levels of industry involvement. Moreover, growing ties with the industry skew research towards a more applied approach.

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  • Albert Banal-Estañol & Mireia Jofre-Bonet & Cornelia Meissner, 2008. "Theimpact of industry collaboration on research: Evidence from engineering academics in the UK," Economics Working Papers 1190, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, revised Aug 2010.
    • Handle: RePEc:upf:upfgen:1190
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    Cited by:

    1. Cornelia Lawson, 2013. "Academic Inventions Outside the University: Investigating Patent Ownership in the UK," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(5), pages 385-398, July.
    2. Albert Banal-Estañol & Inés Macho-Stadler & David Pérez-Castrillo, 2013. "Endogeneous matching in university-industry collaboration: Theory and empirical evidence from the UK," Economics Working Papers 1379, Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra.
    3. Hottenrott, Hanna & Lawson, Cornelia, 2013. "Fishing for complementarities: Competitive research funding and research productivity," DICE Discussion Papers 129, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
    4. Luigi Aldieri & Gennaro Guida & Maxim Kotsemir & Concetto Paolo Vinci, 2019. "An investigation of impact of research collaboration on academic performance in Italy," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 53(4), pages 2003-2040, July.
    5. Maria Cohen & Gabriela Fernandes & Pedro Godinho, 2025. "Measuring the impacts of university-industry R&D collaborations: a systematic literature review," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 50(1), pages 345-374, February.
    6. Albert Banal-Estañol & Inés Macho-Stadler & David Pérez-Castrillo, 2013. "Research Output From University–Industry Collaborative Projects," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 27(1), pages 71-81, February.
    7. Thomas Huynh, 2025. "Collaborative research in healthcare: uncovering the impact of industry collaboration on the service innovativeness of university hospitals," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 50(1), pages 1-28, February.
    8. Kyriakos Drivas & Athanasios T. Balafoutis & Stelios Rozakis, 2014. "Research Funding and Academic Output: The Case of Agricultural University of Athens," Working Papers 2014-5, Agricultural University of Athens, Department Of Agricultural Economics.
    9. Albert Banal-Estañol & Inés Macho-Stadler & David Pérez-Castrillo, 2011. "Research output from university-industry collaborative projects," Working Papers 2011/23, Institut d'Economia de Barcelona (IEB).
    10. Sara Amoroso & Simone Vannuccini, 2019. "Teaming up with Large R&D Investors: Good or Bad for Knowledge Production and Diffusion?," JRC Working Papers on Corporate R&D and Innovation 2019-05, Joint Research Centre.
    11. Philip James Purnell, 2025. "Transdisciplinary research: how much is academia heeding the call to work more closely with societal stakeholders such as industry, government, and nonprofits?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 130(7), pages 3571-3595, July.
    12. Hanna Hottenrott & Cornelia Lawson, 2014. "Research grants, sources of ideas and the effects on academic research," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(2), pages 109-133, March.
    13. Lawson, Cornelia & Soós,Sándor, 2014. "A Thematic Mobility Measure for Econometric Analysis," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis. Working Papers 201408, University of Turin.
    14. Cornelia Lawson, 2013. "Academic patenting: the importance of industry support," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 38(4), pages 509-535, August.
    15. Albert Banal-Estañol & Inés Macho-Stadler & David Pérez-Castrillo, 2011. "Research Output from University-Industry Collaborative Projects," Working Papers 539, Barcelona Graduate School of Economics.
    16. Nast, Carolin & Llopis, Oscar & Yankova, Dima & D'Este, Pablo, 2025. "Sourcing insights elsewhere: The positive influence of academic engagement on scientific impact," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    17. Weiyu Duan & Ying Guo, 2024. "Focused or divided? Collaborative attention and technological orientations in technology transfer," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 129(3), pages 1441-1467, March.
    18. Alfredo Yegros-Yegros & Joaquín M. Azagra-Caro & Mayte López-Ferrer & Robert J.W. Tijssen, 2016. "Do university–industry co-publication outputs correspond with university funding from firms?," Research Evaluation, Oxford University Press, vol. 25(2), pages 136-150.
    19. Crespi, Gustavo & D'Este, Pablo & Fontana, Roberto & Geuna, Aldo, 2011. "The impact of academic patenting on university research and its transfer," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 55-68, February.

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    JEL classification:

    • O3 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights
    • L31 - Industrial Organization - - Nonprofit Organizations and Public Enterprise - - - Nonprofit Institutions; NGOs; Social Entrepreneurship
    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions

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