Proximity and the Transfer of Academic Knowledge: Evidence from the Spatial Pattern of Industry Collaborations of East German Professors

Slavtchev V. Proximity and the transfer of academic knowledge: evidence from the spatial pattern of industry collaborations of East German professors, Regional Studies. Universities can stimulate local economic development, particularly due to collaboration with local industry. Against this background, this study analyses when these interactions are local. Previous research suggests that universityindustry linkages are mainly local because of tacit knowledge and the importance of physical proximity. This study provides additional evidence that the spatial pattern of universityindustry linkages is a result of a complex matching process of appropriate partners. The results indicate that actors' individual and relational characteristics, institutional factors, and the particular type of knowledge play a role in collaboration. Hence, universityindustry collaborations might not be local.