Does Knowledge Diffusion between University and Industry Increase Innovativeness?

This paper rigorously explores the impact of firm’s collaboration with universities on innovation. Specifically, using a representative dataset of manufacturing and service firms we have applied recent matching techniques to examine the hypotheses that whether academic knowledge has a positive impact on innovative sales and the propensity to apply for patents. Econometrically, the paper illustrates the differences that emerge from different matching estimators and samples. On balance, we find robust evidence that university collaboration positively influences innovative performance for large manufacturing firms. In contrast, whatever estimator is chosen, the data show no significant association between university collaboration and the average service firm’s innovation sales or propensity to apply for patents.