The relationship between new universities and new firms: evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in Spain

Javier García-Estévez and Néstor Duch-Brown
Authors registered in the RePEc Author Service: Néstor Duch Brown

Regional Studies, Regional Science, 2020, vol. 7, issue 1, 244-266

Abstract: We examine whether establishing a new university (or faculty) in a region affects new firm creation within that given region. We identified a quasi-experimental design based on Spain’s 1983 University Reform Act, which opened the door to founding new universities at the regional level. We use a generalized difference-in-difference model to estimate this relationship. The results indicate that establishing a new university has a significant positive effect on new firm creation. We then introduce an analysis by the field of knowledge of the created university/faculty and the creation of firms in different categories of sectors defined according to their research and development intensity. In this case, the results show that creating a new university/faculty has a significant positive effect on firm formation in medium-high- and medium-low-technology manufacturing as well as in knowledge-intensive market and financial services. Moreover, creating a health faculty has a significant positive effect on new firm formation in the high-tech manufacturing sector. Finally, the results indicate ambiguous results from different sources of agglomeration economies.

Date: 2020
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/21681376.2020.1784778 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

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:taf:rsrsxx:v:7:y:2020:i:1:p:244-266

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/rsrs20

DOI: 10.1080/21681376.2020.1784778

Access Statistics for this article

Regional Studies, Regional Science is currently edited by Alasdair Rae

More articles in Regional Studies, Regional Science from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().