Higher education and knowledge-based industries

Abstract

The stress on becoming a ‘knowledge-based economy’ has pushed the expansion of knowledge-based industries (KBIs) and higher education institutions (HEIs) in India. Employing a mixed-method approach and sequential explanatory research design, this study examines the geographical or spatial distribution and preferences of KBIs and HEIs in India. The analysis of secondary data at the macro level suggests that the states which specialise in KBIs do specialise in HEIs. The analysis at the meso level finds that the clusters of KBIs have a maximum concentration of HEIs even in specialised states. The primary data at the micro level suggests that the local students from the HEIs situated in proximity are hired maximally by the KBIs. Hence, it can easily be advanced that the KBIs, as well as the HEIs, have spatial preferences for each other, and this preference is very profound around populous urban centres.