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This paper builds upon the knowledge-based view and organizational learning perspective. It develops and empirically tests a conceptual model to analyse the drivers and benefits of university-industry cooperation from the firm perspective. We used structural equation modeling to examine data collected from a sample of small and medium-sized Italian firms in the information and communication technology sector. We found that past collaborative experience increases the benefits drawn from university-industry cooperation. Both collaborative know-how and trust, however, play a significant mediating role on the relationship between collaborative experience and benefits. In particular, collaborative know-how is the main factor enhancing intangible benefits, such as knowledge transfer and learning, while trust is the main driver of tangible benefits, such as product and process innovations. Taken together, these findings suggest that firms should develop strategic competences to fully benefit from collaborations with universities because past collabora-tive experience alone is not sufficient. From the policy point of view, effort is needed to build channels and tools enhancing trust between industry and university, especially to support small firms.

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Terms of use: Documents in AbstractIn recent decades firms have intensified the exploration of external sources of knowledge to enhance their innovation capabilities. This paper presents an empirical analysis of the factors that affect the importance of academic knowledge for firms' innovative activities. An integrated approach that simultaneously considers country-level and firm-level factors is adopted. Regarding the former factors, the analysis shows that the entrepreneurial orientation of university and the quality of academic research increase the importance of knowledge transfers from universities to firms. This suggests that the environmental and institutional context contribute to explain cross-national disparities in university-industry interactions and in the effectiveness of knowledge transfer. In regard to the latter factors, the results indicate that firms oriented toward open search strategies and radical innovations are more likely to draw knowledge from universities. Furthermore, firms belonging to high technology sectors and firms with high absorptive capacity place greater value on the various links with universities. With respect to firm size the estimates show an inverted U-shaped relation with the importance of universities as a source of knowledge. However, the greatest benefits from interacting with universities are achieved by small and young research-active firms.

This paper provides novel empirical evidence on the effectiveness of regional research and innovation policies for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It investigated two subsidy programs implemented at the regional level in central Italy. One program targeted SMEs' investments in individual research projects, and the other focused on collaborative research projects between SMEs and universities. Using a matched difference-indifferences approach, the empirical analysis showed that the two programs had different effects. The first was successful in stimulating additional private research and development (R&D) investment and improving firms' performance. The second had weaker effects, mostly restricted to R&D expenditure and employment. These effects were not always uniformly distributed among project participants.

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to contribute to innovation and family business literature by establishing whether institutional involvement of private equity (PE) and banks in family firms moderates the relationship between family ownership and research and development (R&D) investment. Design/methodology/approach This paper used the socio-emotional wealth lens to carry out an econometric analysis on a large sample of Italian non-listed family firms. Using the sample selection model meant it was possible to account for potential selection bias arising from firms’ discretionary disclosure of R&D expenditure. Findings Family involvement in ownership reduced firms’ R&D intensity. When PE investors also held shares, the negative relationship was diverted. Bank involvement, however, did not have a significant effect on the relationship. Research limitations/implications This paper enriches the innovation management literature by increasing the understanding of the determinants of R&D investments in family firms. The results support the view that non-financial priorities in family firms are contingent upon non-family shareholders. This enriches the debate about the heterogeneity of family businesses and is consistent with the socio-emotional wealth framework, which has shown that risk preferences may vary if desired and actual performances are different. This may be a fruitful area for future research. Originality/value Contradicting the assumption that institutional owners all share the same perspective, this study is the first to assess the impact of different institutional shareholders on R&D intensity of private family firms.

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