IN THE KNOW: EXPLORING THE EFFECT OF GEOGRAPHICAL PROXIMITY ON INDUSTRY- UNIVERSITY COLLABORATION IN THE UK

Despite substantial research effort, little is known about how the geographical distance between a firm and the universities in its local area may affect likelihood of collaboration. We argue that such arrangements are the outcomes of joint decisions made by firms and universities. Separating universities by the quality of their research, we infer that being located close to a lower tier university inhibits a firm’s propensity to collaborate locally while co-location with top tier universities promotes collaboration. We also find that firms appear to give preference to the quality of the university partner over geographical proximity, if forced to choose