The Role and Impact of Universities in a National Innovation System

• National S&T Development Policy Studies
• Management of Technology, R&D & Innovation
• Management of Automation & Advanced Manufacturing Technologies  
• Strategic Management of IT & Electronic Commerce
• High-Tech Industry Analysis & Competitive Strategy
• National IT & NII Policy
• Entrepreneurship and Technopreneurship
• Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Seminar
• Triple Helix 6
• Entrepreneurship/ Innovation Research Seminars
• Full-text of Selected NEC Research Working Papers & Reports
• List Journal and Conference Papers

The Role and Impact of Universities in a National Innovation System: A Comparative Study of Universities in Asia to Develop Policy & Program Recommendations 

The NUS Entrepreneurship Centre (NEC) has embarked on a multi-country comparative study of university technology transfer and commercialization, funded by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation of Japan.  Under this project, researchers from major universities around Asia will examine the emerging role of selected universities in their national and regional innovation systems.

Globally, there has been a rise in university technology commercialization activities, spurring interest in university technology transfer and commercialization as a source of economic growth (see eg AUTM 2000, Wong et al 2002, Thursby and Kemp 2002, Shane and Stuart 2002).  However, although there is a growing body of literature on this phenomenon, it remains largely dominated by work on US universities, while international comparative studies tend to focus on the large, advanced G7 countries (eg Shane 2002, Thursby and Kemp 2002, Mowery et al 1999, Heher 2004).  Much less attention has been given to university technology transfer and commercialization in Asia, particularly at the level of individual universities.  This limits the ability of Asian policymakers to share with each other relevant policy lessons and institutional frameworks for university roles in their national innovation systems (NIS).  Similarly, it hinders their ability to accurately evaluate which elements of the US university technology commercialization model are appropriate for adoption by Asian universities.

Thus this two-year study brings together 18 researchers from Japan, China, India, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore.  Internationally-comparable benchmark data will be collected from each selected university, facilitating an in-depth study of its technology transfer activities, such as technology licensing, spin-off formation, and university-industry collaboration.  Other relevant factors such as entrepreneurship education, industrial consulting and training, and internationalization may also be investigated.  Through this we hope to yield richer insights on the processes through which each individual university contributes to its national and regional innovation system, while simultaneously drawing comparisons on the different university approaches.  This will further allow researchers to draw policy implications for senior university administrators, taking into account the diversity of Asian universities & their national contexts.

The first project workshop was held in Singapore on 24th August 2007, attended by ten researchers and three invited participants.  A second workshop, at which intermediate findings will be discussed, will be held in Bangkok in early 2008.  The final results of the project will be disseminated at a third and final workshop-cum-seminar in Beijing in 2009.

If you would like more information on this project, please contact Ms Annette Singh (6516- 3046, necaas@nus.edu.sg).

List of study participants

References and selected publications on university technology commercialization

Allen, K. and Wong, P.K.  (2004). “Technology spin-offs from Pacific Rim universities: Entrepreneurial context and economic impact”, APRU Special Papers, Association of Pacific Rim Universities.

Association of University Technology Managers (2000).  AUTM Licensing Survey

Basant, R. and Chandra, P. (2007).  “Role of educational and R&D institutions in city clusters: An exploratory study of Bangalore and Pune regions in India”, World Development, 35(6): 1037-1055.

Colyvas, J.A. (2007).  “From divergent meanings to common practices: The early institutionalization of technology transfer in the life sciences at Stanford University”, Research Policy, 36(4):  456–476.

Heher, A.D.  (2004). “Return on investment in innovation: Implications for institutions and national agencies”.  Based on a paper presented at The First Globelics Conference on Innovation Systems Development Strategies for the Third Millennium, Rio de Janeiro, November 2003.

Hussler, C. and Rondé, P.  (2007). “The impact of cognitive communities on the diffusion of academic knowledge: Evidence from the networks of inventors of a French university”, Research Policy, 36(2): 288–302.

Lawton Smith, H and Ho, K. (2006).  “Measuring the performance of Oxford University, Oxford Brookes University and the government laboratories’ spin-off companies”, Research Policy, 35(10): 1554–1568.

Mathews, J.A. and Hu, M.C. (2007). “Enhancing the role of universities in building national innovative capacity in Asia: The case of Taiwan”, World Development, 35(6):1005-20.

Mowery, D.C., Nelson, R.R., Bhaven, N.S. and Ziedonis, A.A. (1999).  “The effects of the Bayh0Dole Act on US university research and technology transfer” in L.M. Branscomb, F. Kodama and R. Florida (eds) Industrializing knowledge: University-industry linkages in Japan and the United States. Cambridge, Ma. : MIT Press.

Shane S.  (2002).   “Selling university technology: Patterns from MIT”, Management Science, 48(1): 122-137.

Shane S. and Stuart, T (2002).   “Organizational endowments and the performance of university start-ups”, Management Science, 48(1): 154-170.

Thursby, J.G. and Kemp, S. (2002) “Growth and productive efficiency of university intellectual property licensing”, Research Policy, 31(1): 109-124.

Wong, P.K., Ho, Y.P. and Singh, A. (2007). Towards an “Entrepreneurial University” model to support knowledge-based economic development: The case of the National University of Singapore, World Development, 35(6): 941-958.