Increasingly universities are seen to be one of the key actors in national innovation systems (Bessant & Venables,2008; Cosh, Lester, & Hughes, 2006; Etzkowitz, Webster, Gebhardt, & Terra, 2000; Lundvall, Johnson, Andersen, &Dalum, 2002). Firms reach out to universities as a source of knowledge and support...

This paper examines the various methods through which firms benefit from interactions with universities, arguing that such benefits are instrumental in nurturing the multiple facets of a firm's absorptive capacity. We bring together data collected from a survey of UK firms that collaborated with...