University-industry interaction: support to cooperation versus actual cooperation in peripheral regions

Abstract

Increasing interaction between university and industry is a common trend of most developed economies. It has received both consent and critique from innovation studies. Some of the debates around the topic are what the objectives of interaction are and whether the attempts to promote it are effective. With a sample from a survey of university professors of a European peripheral region, the Valencian Community, we study the extension of the phenomenon beyond technology-leading countries. We estimate some econometric models that shed some light on the mentioned debates. The results show that certain incentives and instruments of interaction impede that the support to every objective is simultaneous or even compatible and that only selected policies for its promotion have an impact. We recommend a reconsideration of the institutional encouragement experienced during the last two decades.