The role of mid-range universities in knowledge transfer and regional development: the case of five central European regions

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F62156489%3A43310%2F19%3A43916902" target="_blank" >RIV/62156489:43310/19:43916902 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="https://doi.org/10.4337/9781784715717.00023" target="_blank" >https://doi.org/10.4337/9781784715717.00023</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.4337/9781784715717.00023" target="_blank" >10.4337/9781784715717.00023</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

The role of mid-range universities in knowledge transfer and regional development: the case of five central European regions

Original language description

This chapter focuses on the specific role of mid-range universities in knowledge transfer and regional development. It explores the knowledge flows from these mid-range universities, which face a number of additional constraints in Central Eastern European (CEE) regions. It discusses major theories relevant to technology transfer and the role of universities in it (regional innovation systems, Triple Helix, cluster theories, smart specialization, etc.) including the developmental role (the third mission) of universities. It introduces the path-dependent evolution of the system of knowledge and technology transfer in CEE universities placing major mainstream theories and empirical evidence of the role of universities in innovation systems into the Central European context. It brings cases from the non-metropolitan regions of Hungary and the Czech Republic in order to examine the specific barriers to knowledge transfer and explain the reasons behind the traditionally weaker role of mid-range universities. The term &apos;mid-range universities&apos; is borrowed from the studies by Wright et al. (2008) and Gál and Ptáček (2011). While the former focuses on mid-range universities in the core regions of the EU, the latter one brings examples from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Mid-range universities in the core regions are characterized by specific metrics (e.g. number of students between 8,000 and 33,000, full-time researchers between 700 and 2,500, smaller R&amp;D potential and lower density of business links). In the core EU countries, there are many top universities located in non-metropolitan regions, but this is not the case in CEE. In contrast with the metropolitan concentration of the top universities in CEE countries, mid-range universities are most often located in non-metropolitan regions (Gál and Ptáček, 2011). Due to the lack of a favourable business environment, the role of mid-range universities in CEE is relatively higher in the peripheral regions where they represent the only keystones of regional innovation systems. A further aim of the chapter is to describe the role of mid-range universities in the economic performance of a host city/region and the perception of this role by different local and regional stakeholders. It argues that there is a clear discrepancy between their expectations and their real impact on technology transfer, therefore ambitious university-based developmental models have to be revised in CEE regions. The developmental role of universities has to be reconsidered from a more realistic perspective by taking into account factors such as university size (smaller critical mass), corporate demand for innovation, (in)compatibility of knowledge creation with regional economic base and other barriers to technology transfer. The chapter is organized as follows. The first section focuses on the changing role of universities. The second section overviews the regional engagement literature considering the possible activities of mid-range universities in this field. The third section introduces the specific feature of mid-range universities in post-communist countries highlighting their links with businesses and their role in economic development. The fourth section draws on the findings of case studies from the non-metropolitan regions of Hungary and the Czech Republic in order to examine both general and specific barriers to knowledge transfer and regional engagement of universities. The chapter concludes that in addition to the differences observed in the position of universities in collaborations with the business sector, their role in the regional innovation system is also varied. There is a need for much more comprehensive and complex economic policies to support the university sector and contribute to the development of competitive firms, including, small and medium-sized enterprises, and the construction of regional advantage based on a stronger regional engagement of the universities.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

C - Chapter in a specialist book

CEP classification

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OECD FORD branch

50701 - Cultural and economic geography

Project

—

Continuities

S - Specificky vyzkum na vysokych skolach

Publication year

2019

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Book/collection name

Handbook of Universities and Regional Development

ISBN

978-1-78471-570-0

Number of pages of the result

22

Pages from-to

279-300

Number of pages of the book

407

Publisher name

Edward Elgar Publishing

Place of publication

Cheltenham

UT code for WoS chapter

000663625200015