A Systematic Literature Review of Partnership Development at the University–Industry–Government Nexus

Mike Burbridge and Gregory M. Morrison
Additional contact information
Mike Burbridge: Curtin University Sustainability Policy Institute, School of Design and the Built Environment, Curtin University, Perth 6102, Australia
Gregory M. Morrison: Curtin University Sustainability Policy Institute, School of Design and the Built Environment, Curtin University, Perth 6102, Australia

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 24, 1-24

Abstract: The increasingly entrepreneurial intent of universities implies the commercialization of knowledge and innovation through the triple helix of interactions between universities, industry and government. However, there remains a lack of clarity concerning best practice partnerships for innovation. This systematic literature review (SLR) provides insights onto the development of partnerships at the university–industry–government nexus and builds on the existing top-down/bottom-up approach for the creation of intermediaries of innovation. The SLR describes the evolution of these intermediaries, which is driven both by criteria set by partners and the globalization of the knowledge economy. This SLR reveals that the partnership structure most likely to further economic and broader societal goals is the living lab with the inherent focus on open innovation and co-creation. This SLR reveals that the living lab structure (and including sustainability labs and urban living labs) is the partnership structure utilized for innovation that addresses economic, social and environmental goals. Two areas are recommended for further research. One concerns the development of a deeper understanding of the relationship between the evolution in the structures of partnerships for innovation and how it is influenced by the globalization of the economy, society and environment, and changing modes of knowledge production. The other is to better understand why the living lab approach to partnership creation is best suited to the delivery of sustainable development objectives and how this learning can be applied to other models of partnership development at the university–industry–government nexus.

Keywords: triple helix; innovation; partnership development; sustainable development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/24/13780/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/24/13780/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:24:p:13780-:d:701861

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().