Universities and Innovation: University Relevance and Engagement Are More Likely Where Public Governance Is Strategic

Abstract

The paper opens with a consideration of the func­tions of universities and the idea of public policy promoting linkages between universities and busi­nesses to support innovation and economic growth. This is followed by a section outlining the concept of a ‘strategic state’ and original analysis using data from the Institutional Profiles Database for 2016 on 63 countries. This analysis reveals a statistical asso­ciation of (i) university relevance to business needs, and (ii) university engagement with firms. It is noted that this is consistent with the existence of recipro­cal causation – greater university relevance encour­ages engagement with firms, and engagement with firms fosters university relevance. Next, the analysis shows that countries that had governments with strong strategic state characteristics and universi­ties that were relevant and engaged with business firms were statistically associated with greater so­cietal capacities for technological adaptation and in­novation. The paper concludes by considering stra­tegically governed universities. Several suggestions are made, including one that public policy should aim for universities to have strategic autonomy and another that central government (in a spirit of coop­eration and partnership) supports local government, local businesses, and universities in their efforts to create and operate locally focused collaborations to innovate and bring about economic development.

Keywords

• strategic state
• universities
• strategic autonomy
• collaborations
• innovation
• local economic development.