Chapter 8: University Research Parks and Their Impact on Technology Transfer Activities

University research parks (URPs) are technology-based geographical enclaves placed in the surroundings of a university campus that benefit from the knowledge generated in the university and its research centers. In URPs, information flows from academia to industry, accelerated by a physical proximity.

Universities started building up these spaces as a result of different policies designed to foster knowledge transfer activities and spur university-industry collaborations. In Spain, this movement took place in the 1990s, and quite rapidly universities all over the Spanish territory got interested in this policy instrument as a way to foster innovation and attract R&D activity.

Despite literature on science parks being quite abundant, there is a theoretical gap in the mechanisms that drove the creation of these infrastructures. This chapter aims at shedding some light on this matter. First, based on the literature reviewed and the evidence of the practices followed by several URPs, we propose that URPs can be created following two different strategies, depending whether the concentration of innovative activities is based on the presence or the absence of a deliberated creation scheme. Following the preliminary work of Berbegal-Mirabent, Martín, and Solé (2010) we expand on the differences between planned and unplanned parks.

Second, an empirical study is conducted in order to determine the impact of the creation strategy of the park on technology transfer activities—namely patents, spin-offs, and R&D contracts. Taking the Spanish public higher education system and using data for the period 2004-2011, we examine the determinants of university technology transfer outputs. Then, using cluster analysis, universities are grouped. A detailed description of each group is provided. Results indicate that planned parks are natural drivers for the emergence of new ventures and facilitate the establishment of R&D contracts. On the other hand, our findings reveal that having a science park (either planned or unplanned) positively contributes to increase the amount of patents registered.