The local economic impact of the Swedish higher education system

Andrés Rodríguez-Pose

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: This article examines the role of Swedish higher education institutions (HEIs) in economic development, focusing on the impact of their research capacities on local economic activity. Globally, HEIs are increasingly prioritising research, frequently at the expense of education and local economic engagement, as a means to climb the university ranking ladder. Sweden has been no exception. Our findings indicate that research intensity at Swedish HEIs does not correlate with higher local income. Rather, the opposite is the case: more emphasis on top-end research seems to undermine local income. We explore human capital and innovation as possible mechanisms for the limited local economic influence of Swedish HEIs. The results reveal that HEIs do not significantly improve local human capital. Moreover, despite Swedish HEIs holding intellectual property rights to foster innovation, the actual economic translation of this knowledge faces considerable hurdles, including a misalignment with industry needs and limited local business collaboration.

Keywords: higher education institutions; Sweden; research capacity; innovation; human capital (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I20 I23 R11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 19 pages
Date: 2025-03-07
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Published in Regional Studies, 7, March, 2025. ISSN: 0034-3404

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:127188

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