Developing Entrepreneurial Universities in Taiwan

Abstract

This article investigates the evolving University–Industry–Government (UIG) linkages pattern in Taiwan, a latecomer catch-up country in terms of its late technology development and pursuing a targeted strategy of catch-up. The focus is on the funding sources available to universities and on their significance in defining the essentials of operating entrepreneurial universities. The results demonstrate that both public and private funding sources are important for assisting the build of entrepreneurial universities to reinforce such linkages, but their effects are divergent. The essential role of private research funding is not determined by the amount of funding, but is rather one of a guide to fill in the gaps in technological development between universities and industries. In comparison, public funding is a pre-requisite to and catalyst in attracting private research funding to bridge the gaps between university and industry research and to correct the misalignment of its impacts. The results also suggest that the UIG linkages available to an entrepreneurial university are closely associated with patterns of regional innovation and industrial development.