Does Collaboration Matter: The Effect of University-industry R&D Collaboration On Economic Growth

The effect of university-industry collaboration is extensively studied at the firm and regional levels. Although collaboration is considered a source of competitive advantage for universities and industry, no studies are conducted internationally. However, many studies recommended that university-industry collaboration can affect economic growth, but the effect of university-industry R & D collaboration still needs to be tested in the international context. The triple helix concept suggests collaboration impacts economic growth, but its mechanism has yet to be explained extensively. This study aimed to investigate the causal effect of the university-industry R & D collaboration on economic growth through capital formation and human capital, which are variables of the endogenous growth model. Baron and Kenny's approach with fixed effect regression is applied. The result suggests that the university-industry R & D collaboration significantly and positively affects economic growth through capital formation. There is no such indirect effect in high and upper-middle-income countries separately. For 124 country panel data, we found a significant indirect impact of the university-industry R & D collaboration on log of real GDP per capita.