Knowledge And Technology Transfer Activities Research Articles

Researchers’ willingness to engage in knowledge and technology transfer activities: an exploration of the underlying motivations

Increasingly, universities have become conscious of their important role as centres of knowledge generation and diffusion. Accordingly, they have put in place policies, methods and resources to increase knowledge and technology transfer (KTT) activities. However, succeeding in this endeavour is not that easy. An active involvement of researchers is fundamental. Literature examining researchers’ attitude towards KTT activities is limited, offering a partial view on the subject. This study aims at bringing new light to this issue. First, we identify those factors that influence researchers’ willingness to engage in KTT activities. From a comprehensive literature review, we distinguish between intrinsic motivations, extrinsic motivations and university support and services as critical elements. A scale is developed and validated. Second, the scale is applied to the case of R&D contracts. The sample consists of 249 researchers from one of the biggest Spanish universities. Results suggest that the proposed scale has a good fit, indicating that it can be considered as a good instrument for measuring researchers’ willingness to get involved in KTT activities. Policy implications and directions for future research are provided.

Knowledge and Technology Transfer Activities between Firms and Universities in Switzerland: An Analysis Based on Firm Data

This study explores the factors determining the propensity of Swiss firms to get involved in knowledge and technology transfer (KTT) activities with universities and other research institutions in order to gain new scientific knowledge in research fields which are relevant for their own innovation activities. The data used in this study were collected by a postal survey among Swiss enterprises. We found that the propensity to KTT activities is positively correlated with the share of employees with tertiary-level education, the existence of R&D activities, firm age and firm size. Further, it is negatively correlated with obstacles of KTT activities related to the functioning of the interface between firms and universities. The analysis of five specific forms of KTT activities showed that there are differences among these forms as to the explanatory factors identified for the variable for overall KTT activities, particularly with respect to human capital intensity, some obstacles and firm size.

Firms' transfer strategies with universities and the relationship with firms' innovation performance

Based on a representative sample of Swiss firms we empirically investigated strategies for knowledge and technology transfer (KTT) activities between business firms and universities as well as other public research institutions. Based on a cluster analysis of 19 different forms for KTT, three types of KTT strategies were identified. They were significantly correlated mainly to (i) the absorptive capacity of a firm, (ii) several factors hampering KTT activities, and (iii) some characteristics of the transfer process such as the number of partners, the existence of contacts to foreign universities and the utilization of the mediating services of transfer offices. Furthermore, it was found that KTT strategies related to the “core” transfer activities such as R&D contracts are stronger correlated with innovation performance compared to strategies related to “softer” transfer forms.

University-industry knowledge and technology transfer in Switzerland: What university scientists think about co-operation with private enterprises

This study explores empirically the factors determining the propensity of Swiss science institutions at the level of a single institute or department to get involved in a wide spectrum of knowledge and technology transfer (KTT) activities with private corporations. A main finding is that scientific institutes with a stronger orientation to applied research and/or lower teaching obligations are also stronger inclined to get involved in overall KTT activities. The same is valid for institutes which have already had experience with industry co-operations as reflected by a high share of external funds in an institute's budget. Further, there is no systematic size effect with respect to KTT activities. Institutes of engineering, natural sciences and economics/management are strongly represented among KTT-active institutes. Universities of applied sciences have an above-average propensity to KTT activities.

Is there any Impact of University–Industry Knowledge Transfer on Innovation and Productivity? An Empirical Analysis Based on Swiss Firm Data

This study investigates the impact of a wide spectrum of knowledge and technology transfer (KTT) activities (general information; educational activities; research activities; activities related with technical infrastructure; and consulting) (a) on two innovation indicators in the framework of an innovation equation with a endogenized variable of KTT activities as an additional determinant of innovation; and (b) on labour productivity in the framework of a production function with endogenized innovation variables and the variable for KTT activities as additional production factors.

Do specific forms of university-industry knowledge transfer have different impacts on the performance of private enterprises? An empirical analysis based on Swiss firm data

This study investigates the impact of a wide spectrum of Knowledge and Technology Transfer (KTT) activities (educational and research activities, activities related with technical infrastructure, and consulting) on two innovation indicators (a) in the framework of an innovation equation with variables for specific forms of KTT activities as additional determinants of innovation, and (b) based on a matched-pairs analysis for several specific forms of KTT activities. The data used in the study were collected by means of a survey of Swiss enterprises that took place at the beginning of 2005. We found that research and educational activities improve the innovation performance of firms in terms of sales of considerably modified products, research activities in addition also in terms of sales of new products. This could be shown by several methods: the innovation equation approach with instrument variables for specific forms of KTT activities as well as two matching methods.

Is There Any Impact of University-Industry Knowledge Transfer on the Performance of Private Enterprises? An Empirical Analysis Based on Swiss Firm Data

This study investigates the impacts of a palette of Knowledge and Technology Transfer (KTT) activities (general information, educational and research activities, activities related with technical infrastructure, and consulting) (a) on several innovation indicators (a1) in the framework of an innovation equation with variables of endogenized KTT activities (overall activities, specific forms of activities) as additional determinants of innovation, and (a2) based on a matched-pairs analysis for several forms of KTT activities; (b) on labour productivity in the framework of a production function with endogenized KTT activities as an additional production factor. The data used in the study were collected by means of a survey of Swiss enterprises that took place at the beginning of 2005. We found that KTT activities improve the innovation performance of firms both in terms of R&D intensity and sales of innovative products. The positive effect of overall KTT activities can be traced back mainly to research and educational activities. This could be shown by several methods: the innovation equation approach with endogenized KTT variable as well as three matching methods. Further, KTT activities seem to exercise a positive influence on labour productivity both through a direct effect as well as through an indirect effect by raising the elasticity of R&D intensity with respect to labour productivity.

Determinants of Knowledge and Technology Transfer Activities Between Firms and Science Institutions in Switzerland: An Analysis Based on Firm Data

This study explores the factors determining the propensity of Swiss firms to interact with public science institutions in Switzerland (universities and other research institution), i.e. to get involved in knowledge and technology transfer (KTT) activities in order to gain new and/or codified scientific knowledge in research fields which are relevant for their own innovation activities. We are especially interested in the different forms of this interaction, not only through joint research projects but also through training, recruitment of qualified R&D personnel, jointly supervised master theses and PhDs, consulting and so on. The data used in this study were collected in the course of a survey among Swiss enterprises. The new elements that this paper adds to empirical literature are, first, the analysis of a wide spectrum of KTT activities covering not only research co-operation agreements between firms and science institutions but also general informational and educational activities (transfer of tacit knowledge), joint use of technical infrastructure and consulting. Although such additional activities seem to be an important part of KTT activities, they have been neglected in most studies. Second, a further important element is the explicit consideration of a series of relevant motives and obstacles as determinants of KTT which contribute significantly to the econometric explanation of firms' propensity to overall KTT activities as well as to several forms of KTT activities. Third, some insights are gained with respect to the differences between manufacturing and service firms in transacting with science institutions. This is the first Swiss firm-level study on this matter.

University-Industry Knowledge and Technology Transfer in Switzerland: The University View

This descriptive paper is part of a large project aiming at exploring the factors determining the propensity of Swiss science institutions to interact with private enterprises in Switzerland (universities and other research institution), i.e. to get involved in knowledge and technology transfer (KTT) activities. On the other hand, a second part of this project investigates the factors determining the propensity of Swiss private enterprises for KTT activities. We are especially interested in the different forms of this interaction, not only through joint research projects but also through training, mobility of academic personnel, jointly supervised master theses and PhDs, consulting and so on. Further, our study investigates the channels of KTT such as e.g. scientific publications, patents, spin-offs as well as the mediating institutions (e.g. Technology Transfer Offices, Commission for Technology and Innovation (KTI), Swiss Research Foundation (SNF)). We also discuss the relative importance of a series of motives for and impediments of KTT activities. Finally, we take also a look at the impact of KTT activities on the research orientation, on teaching and least but not last, the financial position of institutes co-orating with private enterprises.