International University–Industry Linkage: Impact on Firm Technological Performance

Abstract

Although previous studies have given considerable attention to collaborative research between firms and universities of the same country, firms’ collaborations with foreign universities have received comparatively little attention. In this study, we examine the impact of cross-border university–industry joint research on firm technological performance. We test our hypotheses on a panel dataset of 107 Japanese manufacturing firms for the period 2001–2004. Our findings illustrate that the research quality in partner universities and firms’ affiliates in the country of partner universities are both critical to realizing the benefits from international joint research with universities. A key contribution of this study is to suggest that distance barriers can be overcome if firm affiliates are present in the country of the partner university.