Networks, Space and Organizational Performance: A Study of the Determinants of Industrial Research Income Generation by Universities

Abstract

This paper examines the extent to which both network structure and spatial factors impact on the organisational performance of universities as measured by the generation of industrial research income. Drawing on data concerning the interactions of universities in the UK with large R&D-intensive firms, the paper employs both social network analysis and regression analysis. The analysis finds that the structural position of a university within networks with large R&D-intensive firms is significantly associated with the level of research income gained from industry. Spatial factors, on the other hand, are not found to be clearly associated with performance, suggesting that universities operate on a level playing field across regional environments once other factors are controlled for.

Peripherality and university collaboration: Evidence from rural SMEs in the UK

“…However, while rural SMEs may lack spatial proximity to universities, the evidence suggests that this merely results in these firms collaborating over larger distances (Charles 2016;Huggins et al 2015;Huggins, Izushi, and Prokop 2016;. Therefore, a rural location does not preclude SME-university collaboration.…”

The best spatial scale of firm innovation networks: Evidence from Shanghai high‐tech firms

“…From the perspective of glocalization, the scale of innovation networks can be divided into three groups, the local, global and glocal. Following Huggins et al (2015), this paper argues that if more than 70% of the innovation partners in the firm are located abroad, the firm has formed a global innovation network; if more than 70% of the innovation partners are located in other cities in China, the firm has formed a national innovation network; if more than 70% of the innovation partners are located in the same city, the firm has formed a city innovation network; if the firm has both foreign and domestic cities partners, the firm has formed a glocal innovation network. This idea can be shown in Figure 2.…”

“…As the research object of economic geography, location, space and place evolve with the change of economic geography (Miao & Wei, ). With the rapid development of globalization, the role of innovation in regional economic development is increasingly important (Huggins & Thompson, , ). Economic geographers differ in their understanding of spatial scales and formed two schools.…”

Assessing the role of universities in a place-based Industrial Strategy: Evidence from the UK

“…Therefore, there may be a level of endogeneity to the process; within a 'competitive' regional environment, collaborations between universities and industry outperform those in 'uncompetitive' regional environments, thereby promoting a virtuous cycle (Zhang et al, 2016). Conversely, others have suggested that it is not the physical location per se, but the position of the university as a central node of a network which determines its effectiveness in terms of knowledge creation and transfer (Huggins et al, 2016(Huggins et al, , 2019. Thus, this argument suggests that the socio-economic landscape of the region is less important than the overall entrepreneurial ethos of a university and its ability to position itself at the heart of the innovation system.…”