Industry-university collaboration and absorptive capacity: an empirical study in a Swedish context
by Thomas Biedenbach; Agneta Marell; Vladimir Vanyushyn
International Journal of Technology Management (IJTM), Vol. 76, No. 1/2, 2018

Abstract: In this paper, we examine the role of firms' absorptive capacity in industry-university collaboration and, in particular, whether absorptive capacity moderates the effects of university collaboration on firms' innovativeness. Having defined absorptive capacity as the recognition, assimilation and application of valuable external knowledge for commercial purposes, we formulated three hypotheses pertaining to firm innovativeness and tested them in an original survey comprising a representative multi-industry sample of 1,532 Swedish firms. The results suggest that benefiting from university cooperation is conditional upon the firm's level of absorptive capacity. At low levels of absorptive capacity, engaging with universities does not translate into any noticeable increase in innovative output. In contrast, medium to high levels of absorptive capacity is where a firm benefit most from collaborating with a university. We also show that these effects are more pronounced for firms operating in sectors characterised by lower levels of technology and knowledge intensity.

Online publication date: Fri, 15-Dec-2017

The full text of this article is only available to individual subscribers or to users at subscribing institutions.

 
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.

Pay per view:
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.

Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Technology Management (IJTM):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:

Username:        Password:          Forgotten your password?

Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.

If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com