Impact of universities’ R&D on regional technological complexity

There is growing evidence in the literature that knowledge generated and diffused by academic institutions plays an important role in innovation and economic growth. There is a need to empirically test the relationship between regional technological complexity and academic research, i.e., evaluating the effect of higher education institutions (HEIs) R&D on regional technological complexity. Hence, this thesis focuses on studying the association between capital expended for research and development (R&D) activities by academic institutions and regional technological complexity. In this study, I have used Broekel’s structural diversity method to measure the regional technological complexity of NUTS 3 regions in Norway, using panel data of 17 Norwegian regions from 1999-2015 in addition to patent and population data. The study aims to evaluate the impact of universities’ R&D efforts on regional technological complexity. I have employed regression and statistical modeling to test the hypothesis, “Technological complexity of a region depends on the R&D expenditure input of that region.” The findings of this study reveal that private R&D expenditures have a significant positive relation with regional technological complexity whereas universities’ R&D is not statistically different from zero. This can be explained by the basic nature of research conducted by universities that work as a building block for private research and development. These findings can act as basic knowledge for policymakers, enabling them to recognize the best R&D practitioners for benchmarking. Finally, the method employed in this study and the results can also help the research and development departments of governments to develop approaches for strengthening regional and national innovation performance by highlighting the lesser-studied and value-creating role of academic institutions. Moreover, the findings add to the knowledge on facilitators in public-private innovation