Abstract:

Our aim is exploring the relationship between university–industry collaboration and competitiveness along time. We use data from the countries included in the Global Competitiveness Report from the World Economic Forum, along a ten–year length from 2006–2007 to 2015–2016. We also test whether university–industry collaboration is related to the competitiveness foundations of countries (factor–driven economies, efficiency–driven economies, and innovation–driven economies). Finally, looking for a better understanding of the relationship between university–industry collaboration and global competitiveness we explore the role of the quality of the higher education system, the quality of math and science education, the quality of scientific research institutions, the capacity for innovation of firms, the company spending on R&D, the availability of scientists and engineers, the availability of latest technologies in the country, the firm–level technology absorption, the ethical behavior of firms, and other business sophistication and innovation factors.

Keywords:

Collaboration, university, innovation, technology, research, education, ethics.