Title: Developing entrepreneurial universities to enhance technology transfer in transition economies

Authors: Andrea Szalavetz

Addresses: Institute for World Economics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Orszaghaz Street 30, H-1014 Budapest, Hungary.

Abstract: The role of universities in developed countries| national innovation systems has undergone non-negligible changes. This paper reviews the first results Hungarian science and technology policy has achieved in its effort to adjust to this global tendency. We compare the cases of a Hungarian and an Irish university-centred knowledge cluster and identify the main similarities and differences in terms of functioning, financing, synergy effects and commercialisation performance. We identified substantial quality differences between the two surveyed clusters in terms of the strategic character of research, of universities| bargaining power and of the characteristics of technology transfer. The Hungarian case made it obvious that even in countries characterised by poor linkages among actors of the national innovation system policy incentives can stimulate firms| commitment to engage in industry-university R&D collaborations.

Keywords: university-industry cooperation; industrial collaboration; technology transfer; science and technology policy; Hungary; Ireland; entrepreneurial universities; transition economies; entrepreneurship; knowledge clusters; national innovation systems; policy incentives; R&D collaboration; research and development; national systems of innovation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTTC.2011.039129

International Journal of Technology Transfer and Commercialisation, 2011 Vol.10 No.2, pp.118 - 130

Published online: 31 Jan 2015 *

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