Designing regional development? Exploring the University of Aveiro's role in the innovation policy process

In contrast to the traditional view on economics, related to productivity and economic growth, we focus our attention on the development of modern technologies, services, and the knowledge economy. The fast pace of technology innovations requires higher-quality education. In this matter, the objects of the research are universities that influence the population and economic development as well as the regional development as one of the involved institutions. The paper deals with the contextual analysis of the university environment within the conditions of regions in the Slovak Republic upon the selected subindexes, such as macroeconomic performance and stability, innovation policy, institutional quality, and the quality of human resources. The differences between the regions are analyzed through the Index of the quality of regional university environment (IQRUE) that enabled to recognize these differences better. The ranking of the regions has been created according to a daily index when interpreting the results by the comparison of each region. The Pearson’s correlation coefficient and Spearman’s ranking correlation coefficient were used to testing the relationship between GDP and science and research expenses. The results are presented in the tables and graphs. The conducted research enabled the identification of the deficiencies of the university environment in every region of Slovakia. As a result, some universities are disadvantaged within the competition. Continuous elimination of deficiencies should not be a priority of universities only, however, the entire society should prioritize it. The state, local self-government bodies should play the leading role to create the conditions to improve the quality of the university environment and pay attention mostly to the disadvantaged regions.

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University Impact on Regional Development in the Context of Smart Specialisation

Kwartalnik Ekonomistów i Menedżerów ◽

10.33119/eeim.2021.59.3 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 59 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Yevheniia Polishchuk ◽

Anna Kornyliuk ◽

Alla Ivashchenko ◽

Yuriy Danko ◽

Oleh Pasko

Keyword(s):

Regional Development ◽

Academic Entrepreneurship ◽

Innovation Policy ◽

Research Centre ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Regional Innovation ◽

Joint Research ◽

Smart Specialisation ◽

The University ◽

The Impact

Regional development on the basis of smart specialisation entails the involvement of stakeholders in innovation processes such as business, public organisations, local government and academic sectors. Universities are the drivers of a region’s development because they have a broad research base. Using the methodology of the Joint Research Centre (European Commission), the impact of Sumy National Agrarian University on the development of the Sumy Region was assessed by such criteria as its cooperation with stakeholders, innovative infrastructure of the university, development of academic entrepreneurship, and its role in developing the region. The method of collecting qualitative data involved conducting structured interviews with the university administration and relevant departments. The collected data were analysed by content analysis. As a result of testing the methodology, its high level of applicability was noted in the Ukrainian academic space, outside the EU. It is recommended to use the method of assessing the impact of the university on the development of the region during the entrepreneurial discovery process, which follows the definition of priorities for the development of the region in the context of smart specialisation. The recommendations were given on the revival of cooperation with stakeholders, possible ways of developing academic entrepreneurship and building innovation infrastructure. The results of the research presented in this article may be used in university promotion within the region and the country as well in the context of smart specialisation. Policy makers may use the research results in order to provide regional innovation policy.

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The Interregional Migration of Human Capital: The Case of “First-Class” University Graduates in China

Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy ◽

10.1007/s12061-021-09401-7 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Can Cui ◽

Yifan Wang ◽

Qiang Wang

Keyword(s):

Human Capital ◽

Regional Development ◽

Negative Binomial ◽

Driving Forces ◽

University Graduates ◽

Highly Educated ◽

Positive Effects ◽

Urban Amenities ◽

Second Tier ◽

The University

AbstractHuman capital has been acknowledged as a key driver for innovation, thereby promoting regional economic development in the knowledge era. University graduates from China’s “first-class” universities—the top 42 universities, included in the “double first-class” initiative, are considered highly educated human capital. Their migration patterns will exert profound impacts on regional development in China, however, little is known about the migration of these elite university graduates and its underlying driving forces. Using data from the 2018 Graduate Employment Reports, this study reveals that the uneven distribution of “first-class” universities and regional differentials largely shaped the migration of graduates from the university to work. Graduates were found aggregating in eastern first-tier cities, even though appealing talent-orientated policies aimed at attracting human capital had been launched in recent years by second-tier cities. Employing negative binomial models, this study investigates how the characteristics of the city of university and destinations affect the intensity of flows of graduates between them. The results showed that both jobs and urban amenities in the university city and destination city exert impacts on the inflow volume of graduates; whereas talent attraction policies introduced by many second-tier cities are found not to exert positive effects on attracting “first-class” university graduates presently. The trend of human capital migration worth a follow-up investigation, particularly given ongoing policy dynamics, and would shed light on the regional development disparities in China.

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Beyond the Obvious

Advances in Business Strategy and Competitive Advantage - Handbook of Research on Global Competitive Advantage through Innovation and Entrepreneurship ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-8348-8.ch010 ◽

2015 ◽

pp. 150-172 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Rómulo Pinheiro ◽

Paul Benneworth ◽

Glen A. Jones

Keyword(s):

Comparative Study ◽

Regional Development ◽

Conceptual Model ◽

Black Box ◽

General Tendency ◽

Third Mission ◽

Internal Dynamics ◽

Complex Organizations ◽

Environmental Agents ◽

The University

There is a general tendency amongst policy and certain academic circles to assume that universities are simple strategic actors capable and willing to respond to a well-articulated set of regional demands. In reality, however, universities are extremely complex organizations that operate in highly institutionalized environments and are susceptible to regulative shifts, resource dependencies, and fluctuations in student numbers. Understanding universities' contributions—and capacities to contribute—to regional development and innovation requires understanding these internal dynamics and how they interact with external environmental agents. Based on a comparative study across various national settings and regional contexts, the chapter highlights the types of tensions and volitions that universities face while attempting to fulfil their “third mission.” Building upon the existing literature and novel empirical insights, the chapter advances a new conceptual model for opening the “black box” of the university-region interface and disentangling the impacts of purposive, political efforts to change universities' internal fabrics and to institutionalize the regional mission.

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Environment based innovation: policy questions

Finisterra ◽

10.18055/finis1367 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 44 (88) ◽

Author(s):

Argentino Pessoa ◽

Mário Rui Silva

Keyword(s):

Regional Development ◽

Innovation Policy ◽

Resource Curse ◽

Policy Implications ◽

Competitive Advantages ◽

Environmental Resources ◽

Regional Innovation ◽

Public Intervention ◽

The Relationship ◽

Innovation Policies

Natural resources and physical cultural resources, referred to in this paper as “Environmental Resources”, can be important assets for regional competitiveness and innovation. In recent years, these types of assets have been increasingly taken into consideration in the design and implementation of regional development strategies, as a consequence of their potential role as a source of differentiation and of new competitive advantages. However, in contrast to environmental policies, which usually focus on the protection of the environment, innovation policies and their instruments are largely shaped by, and geared towards, knowledge-based innovation.In this paper, we discuss the role played by environmental resources in the context of regional innovation policies. We begin by discussing the relationship between environmental resources and regional development, and by emphasizing some contrasting views with regard to the function of environmental resources in regional development. Then, we address the relationship between regional competitive advantages and innovation strategies. The specific issues and problems that arise whenever the aim is to attain competitive advantages through the valorisation of environmental resources constitute the core of section III. In that section, we highlight the specific characteristics of environmental resources and we discuss the applicability of the “natural resource curse” argument to the dynamics based on the valorisation of environmental resources. The reasons that justify public intervention as well as the difficulties concerning the adequate level of intervention (local / regional / national) are also examined. The paper ends with some conclusions and policy implications.

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The impact of University of Žilina´s employees on regional development

Transport and Communications ◽

10.26552/tac.c.2017.2.5 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

pp. 21-24

Author(s):

Lucia Možuchová ◽

◽

Lucia Gašperová ◽

Mária Rostášová ◽

Dorota Jelonek

Keyword(s):

Regional Development ◽

Strong Impact ◽

University Staff ◽

Short Term ◽

Total Size ◽

Diverse Range ◽

Registered Office ◽

The University ◽

The Impact ◽

The City

The university is an important part of the region's infrastructure and has the potential to initiate changes and transform the economy into a diverse range. The presence of a university in a host city or region has a strong impact on regional development. Universities are usually among the largest employers in the city. Their employees, students and visitors spend some of their finances in this city, which have an impact on local and regional economic development. The total size of the impact of university varies depending on the size of the university and the characteristics of the local and regional economy. The primary aim of the contribution is identification of the selected short-term impacts of the University of Žilina to the city and region, where it has its registered office. To achieve the stated goal, primary research was carried out primarily focused on the economic impact of university staff on the development of the Žilina´s region.

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Innovative development of the national university system in Russia: trends and key elements

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy ◽

10.1108/ijssp-03-2020-0073 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽

Author(s):

Yuriy I. Razorenov ◽

Konstantin V. Vodenko

Keyword(s):

Innovation Policy ◽

Innovation System ◽

National Innovation System ◽

The State ◽

World Intellectual Property Organization ◽

Innovative Development ◽

Content Type ◽

The World ◽

The University ◽

University Industry

PurposeThe goal of the research is to analyze the university development trends in the national innovation system. The paper presents a review of the formation of innovative development strategies and the place of a university in them. The structure is based on the analysis of foreign trends of the transformation of universities and the examination of the efficiency of the interaction between the university, industry and the state. Russian experience in the transformation of universities is presented.Design/methodology/approachResearch methodologies include methods of statistical and comparative analysis and synthesis. The information analysis base of the research is composed of the reports of the World Intellectual Property Organization at year-end 2019, as well as global comparative assessments of the status and development of innovation activities by the Global Innovation Index and Global Competitiveness Index, which are calculated according to the methodology of the World Economic Forum and others.FindingsIn the course of research, the authors put forward a new model of universities within the framework of the national innovation system, which is based on the “triple helix model of innovation” implemented by universities, industry and the state. The logic and structure of the research are set forth in the following way. First, a review of the global practice of the formation and implementation of state innovation policy is given, with the university being a key link, the foreign experience in the transformation of universities is analyzed and the efficiency of the interaction between the university, industry and the state is examined. Furthermore, consideration is given to the Russian experience in the transformation of universities. In conclusion, the main findings of the research are presented.Practical implicationsResults testify that goals and objectives that can be solved by achieving indicators in the world rankings are important for improving competitiveness of education, but they are only efficient if they conform to management decisions that are taken for achieving them and coincide with strategic goals and directions that should be implemented within the framework of the national innovation and academic system.Originality/valueResearch hypothesis is as follows: modern age is characterized by the rapid development of digital technologies and globalization processes, which transform technologies and cultural patterns into techniques and methods of working with information. Despite the fact that a university is the center for the development of society and culture, which serves as an axiological core, it is subject to the transformation, which is mainly manifested in instrumental changes and the expansion of the social procurement range. The modern educational system is yet to find a contemporary conceptual framework of a university that would satisfy the up-to-date requirements of the global information society in an age of digital revolution and dominate in the educational services market.

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