Universities In Economic Development Research Articles

Economic Development through Clusters-Understanding the Idea of Cooperation in the Opinion of Students: A Case Study

Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to check how students understand cooperation, which is very important in the contemporary market functioning. Design/Methodology/Approach: The paper presents a review of literature devoted to the concept of cooperation, co-opetition, and networking and a review of literature and research demonstrating the role of universities in economic development. To find out how students understand the concept of cooperation, co-opetition, and networking, a survey was conducted among university students in selected European regions. This paper uses the example of the University of Applied Sciences case study in Nysa, in Opolskie Voivodeship in Poland. Findings: The earlier conducted research among cluster managers demonstrates that one of the main reasons for the collapse of clusters is mental barriers. In many cases, members of cluster initiatives do not understand cooperation and co-opetition when joining them. They expect additional benefits, but without their own engagement and acquiring the skill of cooperation. Depopulation and migration processes in some regions are a big problem for the regional market. In subject literature, it is stressed that strong clusters can support regional development, which is particularly important in the case of small and weak regions in terms of endogenous factors. Practical Implications: Each year, university graduates enter the labor market, and in the future, some of them will be members of various business networks, including cluster networks. Through a survey study, it attempted to verify how students understand the concept of cooperation and clustering. Originality/value: This article illustrates how the learning process can be focused on finding solutions about strengthening knowledge and competencies for cooperation.

The role of universities in regional economic development based on tourism in Lampung

This study aims to analyze the role of universities in economic development in the areas of tourism-based communities in Lampung. This study uses secondary data related to tourism, higher education, and macroeconomics of Lampung Province during the period of 2000-2016. The analysis is done by using panel regression method. The results show that Higher Education plays an enormous role in the economic development of the economy in the blood-based areas of tourism and which has tourism potential in Lampung. Most of the villagers who are in tertiary education but work in urban areas as a weakness of their contribution and domino effect on low investment, welfare, and lack of employment. This is why they are wandering to the big city. There is also a social gap which has significant economic disparities. They have access to education, health, and supporting infrastructure. In terms of the number of existing universities, it was found that they have not been able to optimally improve economic development in these areas.

The Role of Universities in Economic Development of Russian Regions

This paper analyses the contribution of higher education institutions (HEI) in Russia to gross regional product (GRP) growth. We explore the relationship between higher education coverage and rates of economic growth based on longitudinal economic growth models which are pooled regression, fixed effects, and regression with simultaneous fixed and spatial effects. In addition to the influence of HEI on economic growth, the model specifications also allow an investigation of the relationship between the territory accessibility of higher education and GRP growth, and the significance of higher education in regions with different structures of GRP. The main policy outcome of the paper is that universities can be considered as fully-fledged economic agents which make positive contributions to GRP growth. The development of regional higher education systems would lead to a positive effect on regional economic development.

The Fountain of Knowledge: The Role of Universities in Economic Development by Shiri M. Breznitz

Reviewed by: The Fountain of Knowledge: The Role of Universities in Economic Development by Shiri M. Breznitz James J. Harrington, PH.D. Shiri M. Breznitz. The Fountain of Knowledge: The Role of Universities in Economic Development. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2014. 181 pp. Cloth: $60.00. ISBN: 978-0-8047-8961-5. The Fountain of Knowledge is described as “the story of the university in a changing world, and in particular its role in economic development” (p. xiii) with the added note that policy makers have started to view the universities as the pathways to a region becoming a successful part of the global economy—what Breznitz describes as “universities and their role in the global economy: how and why they are contributing to their local economies” (p. xiv). This is a small book filled with insight and data. A well written and clear statement of the issues surrounding technology transfer and local economic growth, it is appropriate for the beginner seeking to develop a foundation, as well as the practitioner seeking to understand and improve their knowledge and performance. It has proven very helpful to me as a scholar working in the field of development economics and higher education history. My own work in the comparative, international history of higher education in the developing nations supports and affirms much of what she details in these case studies in the U.S. (Yale) and the U.K. (Cambridge). While I have a more regional economic focus, Breznitz emphasizes the internal processes and external environment of the institutions themselves as economic engines for their communities. It is a given that universities produce both the young minds and the research critical to economic growth and development. In the current technological age, value is often measured by the number of patents, licenses, and spin-out firms. Breznitz emphasizes that this success depends on the ability of the university to transfer knowledge into the public domain in conjunction with the ability of the region to absorb that information (p. 1). The case studies describe how it is done (and not done). The Fountain uses two internationally recognized universities, Yale and Cambridge, to test theory and practice. Breznitz’s model to guide this discussion notes two ways to assess an institution’s contribution to the annual flow of a regional economy. The classic, or ‘short run,’ method is to determine the institution’s contribution to the annual flow of regional economic activity. The ‘long run’ method focuses on the contribution to the continuing growth of human capital in the region …. Hence, the ability of a university to patent, license, and spin out firms has a direct impact on the long-run economic development of a region, which is the focus of this book. (p. 4) The research examines institutional differences as key elements, intertwined in social, economic, and political factors, and in combination with historical and environmental influences. While focusing on how the system of technology commercialization works, including investment and process, and the university’s skill in operating the process, Breznitz maintains a focus on the institution, history, and environment – the context: We have a public versus a private university, an institution that had a history of university-industry relationships and one that did not, one that has funding and allows [End Page 621] faculty to focus on research and one that focuses on teaching and has limited research funding. This provides the basis for the differentiation of the two universities, but it is also the basis from which we start out journey toward understanding the optimal formula for technology commercialization and knowledge transfer. (p. 14) Significant information is provided to explain the theory and the practical. Equally important are the issues and explanations of internal university operations and the linkages among the universities and the regional firms and local industry. It is a thorough and readable discussion. The era of the discussion, the 1990s, was a period of change in the economic and academic environments that Breznitz uses to compare Yale and Cambridge. The data is also judged against the commercialization experiences of Harvard and MIT. For this volume, it is the internal factors that produce the most significant lessons: the importance...

Book review of "The Fountain of Knowledge: The Role of Universities in Economic Development"

Breznitz, Shiri M. (2014). The Fountain of Knowledge: The Role of Universities in Economic Development. Stanford: Stanford Press. Pages: 197. Price: $60.00 USD (cloth).The fountains of as a phrase was first used by John Locke in Essay Concerning Human Understanding, published in 1690, to describe how knowledge is founded, i.e., that all the ideas we have spring from either our observations about sensible objects or our internal reflections. Professor Breznitz's book examines the more restricted topic of the commercialization of biotechnology research at Yale and Cambridge Universities. An accurate title would be University technology transfer: Two case studies in the USA and the The primary audience for this book is that of technology transfer officers and university administrators in the biosciences. Breznitz, an economic geographer, collected data from interviews, documents and reports, on the regional economy, the and companies, with a total of 69 in depth interviews in Cambridgeshire and 46 in New Haven, Connecticut, between 2003 and 2008 with updates in 2013.The book begins with an examination of the traditional roles of universities as research and teaching with an acknowledged pressure on modern universities to pay back the as a third role. The higher education literature [see Donald (1997), Improving the environment for learning] cites a continuum of five roles of the university in interaction with the community, from universal to local: as an intellectual or nerve center of a learning society, as a center for research and technological advance, as a critic of society, as a guide to society for the betterment of human kind, and in the education of students to meet the job requirements of society. In her Tale of two renowned universities, Cambridge ranking third and Yale ranking tenth in the Times Higher Education World rankings for 2013, Breznitz notes the mission of Cambridge to contribute to society at the highest international levels of excellence. She also notes its noncontrolling policy toward commercial exploitation of academic know-how and links with industry generally. Yale is introduced as having a historical culture of non-involvement with the community in general and with industry in particular in the early 1990s.The research literature on technology transfer in Chapter 2 is divided into external and internal factors. Most notable among the external factors is government legislation that ranges from the intended missions and funding of universities to intellectual property policies and tax incentives provided by governments. Environmental factors describe relationships between institutions on national and regional levels. Internal factors include culture, policy and organization. Within the university culture, Clark's (1998) concept of instrumental interactivism, the interaction of all elements and policies in the university, is introduced as key to the transformation of a university. A significant policy issue is the share of royalties allocated to inventors. A higher percentage of royalties to faculty members tends to increase the number of inventions licensed to existing companies, but to decrease the number of university spin-outs. The higher the inventor's royalty share, the lower the incentive to spin out a company. In the two case studies, Cambridge provides a higher share to inventors, while Yale provides a lower share, which promotes the creation of spin-out companies. The third set of internal factors are concerned with the organization of technology transfer offices: personnel, business experience and past success. Breznitz states that the technology transfer office is the university resource with the strongest impact on the creation of spin-out companies.Most salient in the historical and national frameworks of the two countries described in Chapter 3 is the early emphasis on conducting applied research in the land grant universities as stipulated in the US federal government's Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890, and the contrasting late entry of government funding for research after the second world war in the UK. …

The Role of the University in the Innovation Ecosystem, and Implications for Science Cities and Science Parks: A Human Resource Development Approach

In the 21st Century, scientific discovery and technological development are fueled by unprecedented changes in knowledge, societal needs and wants, engineering designs, materials, and instrumentation. Such rapid global changes pose major opportunities and challenges for the innovation ecosystem-especially in developing countries. In particular, our models for human resource development and engagement must evolve so as to better prepare leaders in higher education institutions, research institutes, science cities and science parks, businesses and industries, and governments. Universities throughout the world must play a greater role in both the research and practice of human resource development and engagement for the knowledge-based and creative economies. This paper explores the current and potential talent development and talent engagement dimensions of universities in economic development, and research and practice in education and policy-with implications of such dimensions for science cities/science parks. The paper highlights the importance of a greater role for universities, in collaborating with business/industry and governments, in examining new economics-sensitive and values-sensitive models for education and human resource development so as to better understand and support innovation in global contexts.

Review of The Fountain of Knowledge: The Role of Universities in Economic Development

Review of The Fountain of Knowledge: The Role of Universities in Economic Development

The Role of Entrepreneurial Universities in Economic Development Through Innovation and Technology Transfer

This paper examines the potential role of the Entrepreneurial Universities in the national economic growth. The entrepreneurial universities integrate economic development as a function of teaching and research further. By focusing their research on the economic needs of the society, the results can be immediately exploited in the form of products and services. By including entrepreneurship guidance in their program, the research can be transformed into new enterprises such as start-ups and spin-offs, thus creating new jobs.

Reconceptualising engagement: a conceptual framework for analysing university interaction with external social partners

ABSTRACT Currently in universities there is a widespread and formal promotion of ‘community engagement’, but there is also conceptual confusion, debate and contestation, as reflected in vastly differing interpretations of what counts as ‘engaged practice’. Universities are grappling to define what ‘community engagement’ means, and a lively debate on the relationship between the university and society in a developing country like South Africa is emerging. This article contributes to theoretical debate around the definition and conceptualisation of ‘community engagement’ in South Africa. It presents a conceptual framework that was developed to conduct empirical research to measure existing ‘engaged’ academic activities, in order to map forms of interaction in different types of university and disciplinary fields. The objective of the article is to show how the conceptual framework was developed, and how it can be used to guide empirical research, institutional strategic planning and national higher education policy processes. The conceptual origins lie in an unfolding body of research on the changing role of universities in economic development, using a national system of innovation framework. The article begins by developing a working conception of the role of the university in economic and social development in the first section. It then shifts to consider the policy debate and emerging research literature in South Africa, highlighting a disjuncture between higher education and innovation studies in the second section. A growing alignment provides a foundation for developing a new conception of university engagement. The third section then focuses specifically on the adaptation and extension of a conceptual framework used for studying university–firm interaction, to the study of university interaction with a range of external social partners – community, government, civil society, firms or farmers. The final section sets out how such a framework can be used to map interactive practice within a university and across the national system of innovation.

SWOT Analysis of Functions of Chinese Universities

People's Republic of China has been in the transitions stage from planned economy to market economy since 1978 when the government started economic reforms. Human resource developed by educational organizations is the essential condition for a country and its development. In the past, a university was be required to have the function of providing higher education to their students and the academic research function was be required as the second one. In recent years, university shall be required to have the third function, which is the contribution to society like a form of university-run enterprises. Special attention will be given to the way that these university-run enterprises are created, their industrial distribution, their contribution to the development of indigenous high-tech industries. This function has provided strong incentives and promoting economic development with the modern economic knowledge. The functions of university in economic development of China need policy support of promotion, macro planning, guide and harmonization from local and central governments. The further economic development by using the functions of university shall be required the mutual collaboration among university, industry, research institute, government and other organizations in the local area. The core of this task is that fulfilling close integration of education, science & technology, economy and politics.

The larger role of the university in economic development: introduction to the special issue

Current studies of economic growth that emphasize the role of universities and other institutions of higher education have increasing focused on technology transfer. Attention has shifted towards easily quantified metrics such as the number of patents issued, licenses signed, licensing revenues received, and the formation of new companies based on university technologies. This emphasis ignores the larger contribution of universities to the economy as agents of economic and social development. The papers for this special issue are drawn from a conference held at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in April 22–24, 2009, that brought together a group of scholars and practitioners to explore how to expand our inquiry to consider the larger role that research universities play in the modern economy. The papers in this issue attempt to consider the broader impact of universities as actors in economic and industrial development and provide a more critical assessment of the factors and conditions that affects the ability of universities to promote socially desirable outcomes. It is our desire to widen the discussion and increase understanding of the range of activities for which universities have stewardship in the economy and society. We hope to begin a dialogue on the types of metrics that capture this broader influence. Historically, universities—the venue of many social movements—led social activism. While universities were concerned with educating the elite at their early formation, their role is constantly expanding. With expanding opportunities brought by the Industrial Revolution, universities began to make more direct contributions on a social and economic level. Starting in the second half of the twentieth century, with a reliance on public funding of higher educational institutions, universities found themselves under enormous pressure to make a return to society. As we say that we now live in a knowledge economy the role of universities has become central.

Knowledge transfer and the globalisation of higher education

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the growing importance of knowledge transfer in the globalising economy, especially in relation to the policy driver in a number of countries to transform their current economies into knowledge economies. It discusses the various implications that these processes have for government policy on higher education systems, and the role of universities in economic development. It draws upon examples from around the world.Design/methodology/approach – An overview and conceptual paper based on observations and research experience.Findings – This paper points to the importance of the development of knowledge economies and the ways in which this trend has exposed university systems to a more direct involvement in globalisation processes. It offers examples of the different higher education strategies that have been adopted in relation to economic development in countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, China, the UK and South Africa. It also explores the different inte...

Pivoting the centre: reflections on undertaking qualitative interviewing in academia

Researchers studying the role of universities in economic development have paid little attention to methods issues relating to the influence of researcher identities in interviews. Yet in this field of work, researcher identities can have a significant influence on the validity and reliability of `data' and their interpretation, not least because the researchers and at least some of their interviewees, ostensibly, are from the same sector and perhaps even are known to each other. This article considers the influences on the data of multiple identities occupied by an early career researcher doing qualitative interviews for a doctoral project on the role of universities in regional development. The identities occupied by the author were novice researcher, academic insider, career changer and former public sector executive who was a client of university academics. The article demonstrates the potential impact of these identities on the data collected and their interpretation, and the researcher's attempts to negotiate these identities. In thus demonstrating that the `how' of data collection can have important effects on the `what' of data collection and interpretation, the article argues that qualitative interviews in higher education policy research should pay more attention to the social construction of interview `data'.

Role of Universities in Economic Development and its Reform Trend

Role of Universities in Economic Development and its Reform Trend

Rethinking the Role of Research Universities in Economic Development

In this article, Mary Walshok offers a new way of thinking about university–industry relations. She argues that there is a need to support simultaneously ‘basic’ research and to establish institutional mechanisms which make knowledge more accessible and useful to economic development. Rather than advocating, as some have, that universities pursue a more ‘applied’ research agenda, she emphasizes the vital role basic research plays in technology–driven economic development and provides a description of a university–industry programme, CONNECT, which is successfully making knowledge linkages vital to economic development in the context of a leading US research university, the University of California, San Diego.

Overview of policy issues: Panel report on the role of the universities in economic development

Publisher Summary The aggregate character and long-term orientation of universities make it difficult to measure any concrete effects on the economy other than in some special cases, where several circumstances interact favorably. Silicon valley is a recent example alongside the classical one of the establishment of the chemical industry on the basis of new university research. The meaning of the term “economic development” might vary and, with it, the evaluation of the universities. In high-technology countries, with high value-added industries, the role of universities is high-level, whereas in countries with “low-technology”/value-added branches of industry, the universities might contribute to important improvements. The issue is closely related to what one means by the term “university” and its foremost aims, and whether one looks at old universities or newly-created ones. In the latter case, the act of establishing a new university or college in itself is coupled to other political measures, not of a regional development character.

The role of universities in economic development: National, regional, and international

Publisher Summary There is an increased emphasis on the task of existing universities to promote the development of a specific region; the university of Quebec, Canada, is an interesting example in this context. The university of Quebec, itself decentralized, has colleges and institutes located throughout the province. This decentralization facilitates access to the surrounding community. It is useful in enabling the university campuses to offer administrative and marketing assistance to small- and medium-sized enterprises. More emphasis is placed on the university's task of contributing towards economic development. The international aspect of the role of the universities in promoting economic development is not only a task for universities in the developing countries. On the contrary, there is also the task of developing the economy in the third world. The contribution made by the universities in this respect can be increased further.