erc project 1 . interim seminar presentation
TRANSCRIPT
How does university-business interaction contribute to new to the market innovation?
Nola Hewitt-Dundas, Stephen Roper & Areti Gkypali
15 September 2016
Update on progress
• SME-University links and their innovation and productivity benefits
Agenda…
• Defining ‘Innovation’• What is our research contributing?• What determines University-Industry
Collaboration (UIC)? • Is UIC important for innovation? • Is UIC equally important for firms of all sizes?• Does the location of the university have an effect
on innovation?• Key findings & preliminary interpretations• Reflections
New to the market (NTM) and new to the firm (NTF) innovation
What do we mean by innovation?
New to the market innovation
‘This business introduced a new good or service to the market before competitors’
New to the firm innovation
‘This business introduced a new good or service that was essentially the same as a good or service already available from competitors’
NTM and NTF innovation across UKIS waves 4-8
The proportion of UK firms undertaking both NTM and NTF innovation has fallen with a greater fall in NTF innovation.
NTM and NTF innovation by sector
There is very significant variation in both NTM and NTF innovation by sector – both are largely consistent however.
Barriers for high innovation and low innovation sectors
(% innovating firms saying barriers significant across waves 4 to 8)
And the barriers for innovation are largely the same across high and low innovation sectors
NTF and NTM and high growth –UKIS 8
Both NTM and NTF innovation is more common among high growth firms….
Universities and NTM innovation
Does collaboration with Universities matter for business innovation?
Prior knowledge and research questions
• Co-operation with universities increases the probability of innovating:
Germany; France, Sweden
• Is this true for the UK?
• How does our research contribute to what we already know?
Our Approach
Causality
Novelty
Firm Size
Geography
Profiling UK Innovators
44.9
20.024.0
48.8
43.9
19.4
75.5
51.4
63.4
0.0
10.0
20.0
30.0
40.0
50.0
60.0
70.0
80.0
90.0
New toMarket Innov
Uni Collab ConsultancyCollab
CustomerCollab
SupplierCollab
CompetitorCollab
In house R&D Design Exporter
All Large Medium Small
Alln=3,581
10-49n=1,296
50-250n=1,104
250+n=1,181
L. University Collab +++ ++ +++ +++
L. Consultancy Collab + ++ +++
L. Customer Collab ++ ++
L. Supplier Collab ---
L. Competitor Collab -- -
L. NTM +++ ++ +++ +++
What determines university collaboration by size band?
Alln=3,581
10-49n=1,296
50-250n=1,104
250+n=1,181
University Collab +++ ++ +++ +++
Consultancy Collab - ++
Customer Collab +++ ++ -
Supplier Collab (+)
Competitor Collab (-) +
What determines New to the Market Innovation?
dy/dx Std. Err. z P>[z]
University collaboration (0/1)
.2466 .0331 7.46 0.000
University collaboration (0/1)
.2214 0.046 4.80 0.000
University collaboration (0/1)
.2134 0.0322 6.62 0.000
University collaboration (0/1)
.2119 .0830 2.55 0.011
… so how important is University collaboration to NTM innovation?
1. Causality - University Collaboration increases the probability of NTM innovation (overall by c.25%)
2. Diversity of collaborations may not be the most important factor for NTM
– External knowledge sourcing partnerships reflect internal capabilities and market positioning (not power)
Key Points
Universities
Customers
Universities
Consultants
Customers
Consultants
Universities
Small firms
Medium firms
Large firms
UKIS, Waves 4-8 Alln=23,616
10-49n=10,910
50-250n=6,629
250+n=6,053
Regional University +++ +++ ++
National University +++ +++ +++ +++
International University - +
! Fact: University Collaboration increases the probability of New to the Market (NTM) Innovation ? Question: Does this relationship hold for all Universities, irrespective of their location
Key findings [1]
1. Benefit in adopting a narrow definition of innovation: ‘New to the Market’
– Rationale based on business growth
– Rationale based on declining NTM activity
– Appropriate in relation to University collaborations
2. Causality & Novelty: University cooperation increases the probability of introducing NTM innovation
3. Size: This holds true for all firm sizes (10+)
Key findings [2]1. Openness & Diversity:
not all partners contribute positively to NTM innovation
i. Small – Universities & Customers (directly and indirectly) ii. Medium – Universities & Customers (indirectly) and Consultants
(indirectly)iii. Large – Universities and Consultants (directly and indirectly)
2. Proximity of University Business collaborationNot all universities have a positive effect on NTM innovationAgain effects vary by size of firm
i. Small – Regional & National (international being –ve)ii. Medium – Regional, National and to some extent Internationaliii. Large – National
What does this suggest?
• Support for policy efforts to promote UIC
• UICs should be better understood in terms of other external partners
• Policy initiatives adapted to different firm sizes
• Support for investing in the National University system
• University proximity becomes a less significant determinant of NTM innovation as firm size increases
Policy UIC NTMHigher Growth
Next steps …
• Further explore the interrelationships between Regional-National-International University collaborations
• New ventures; case based – sector / universities
• Reflections of findings?
• Interpretation?
• Questions?
• Suggestions for remainder of project?
Policy UIC NTMHigher Growth