research notes and comments: The contribution of academic-industry interaction to product innovation: The case of New York State's medical devices sector

Alan MacPherson ()
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Alan MacPherson: Canada-United States Trade Center, Department of Geography, University at Buffalo, Buffalo NY 14261, USA

Papers in Regional Science, 2002, vol. 81, issue 1, 121-129

Abstract: This note examines the role of academic-industry linkages in the innovation performance of New York State manufacturers of medical devices. Evidence from a pilot survey of 63 specialised producers suggests that innovation rates are higher among firms that exploit university resources. The contribution of the academic sector to industrial innovation is quantified via a series of OLS regressions. These models suggest that geographic proximity to academic resources is less important to the innovation process than the extent of academic-industry interaction (though the two are positively correlated). While the empirical results confirm that close proximity to academic research units is a helpful factor in product development, the data reveal that non-geographic factors play a stronger role overall. Factors of notable significance include in-house R&D effort, investment in academic interaction and the extent of collaborative research with other manufacturing firms.

Keywords: Industrial innovation; academic linkages; knowledge spillovers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D21 O32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2002-02-07
Note: Received: 14 March 2001
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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