Regions and University-Industry Networks: Interactions with Large R&D Performers

Universities are increasingly portrayed as knowledge-producing entities that can play a role in providing knowledge for business and industry. Through the use of both social network analysis and regression analysis, the aim of this paper is to analyse the knowledge links between UK universities and large industrial R&D performers located in the UK. We find that those universities with a greater number of links to large R&D-intensive firms have significantly higher levels of research income. Also, firms with a greater number of links to high research income universities invest more in R&D. There is also a strong regional pattern to these knowledge links. Leading research universities in the most competitive regions are better 'placed' to establish links with the relatively high number of industrial R&D performers located in close proximity. These links are important contributors to the research income of universities. However, these networks tend to be concentrated among a small number of elite universities, mainly within the UK's core and most competitive regions, which are also the location for a significant proportion of the UK's most R&D-intensive firms. Networks with large R&D firms in more peripheral regions are less dense, and are not based on the same locational and reputation effects as found in more competitive regions. It is concluded that although much university knowledge transfer policy is based on establishing links with SMEs, it is clear that links with the 'big ticket' large R&D performers are closely connected with university research performance.