Spatial proximity facilitates transfer of knowledge and technology between research institutes or universities (RIU) and firms. Against this background the location of research institutions and universities is often seen as an instrument of regional policy to promote knowledge flows and R&D...

The fundamental purpose of university geographic clustering is to gather resources through "agglomeration" to improve the performance of higher education and scientific research. However, it has been debated whether university clusters can achieve the latter goal. With the help of the...

We analyze a competitive research-oriented public program established in Spain, the Ramon y Cajal Program, intended to offer contracts in public research centers to high-quality researchers. We study the effects of the Program on the ex-post scientific productivity of its recipients, relative to...

An ongoing debate in the literature on efficiency of higher education institutions concerns the indicator for research output in the empirical analysis. While several studies chose to use the number of publications, others rely on the overall amount of research grants. The present study...

The literature shows a wage premium for graduates from high quality, elite, or more selective universities. The results, however, exist for countries with a clear hierarchy of top universities, such as the US, England, and Australia. I evaluate if such an effect also exists in Germany, a country...

Due to their origin from universities, academic spin‐offs operate at the forefront of the technological development. Therefore, spin‐offs exhibit a skill‐biased labour demand, i.e. spin‐offs have a high demand for employees with cutting edge knowledge and technical skills. In order to...

Universities and research institutes are seen as important drivers of the regional economy. Their impact on regional entrepreneurial and innovation activity is well documented. On the other hand, their influence on regional employment growth is less researched. This paper provides an extensive...