Best channels of academia–industry interaction for long-term benefit

Interactions between public research organizations and industry can be conceptualized as having three main stages: drivers of interaction, channels of interaction, and the perceived benefits from collaboration. Both of the agents differ in terms of the incentives they have to collaborate and the behaviors they adopt during the collaboration process. Following a three-stage model based on Crépon et al. (1998), this paper discusses the impact of drivers of collaboration on channels of interaction, and the impact of these channels on the perceived benefits by researchers and firms. The methodology also allows firm-level benefits from interaction to be connected with researchers’ characteristics via the analysis of four common channels of interaction for firms and researchers. The study is based on original data collected through two surveys, carried out in Mexico during 2008, of R&D and product-development managers of firms and of academic researchers. Our results show that all channels of interaction play an important role in determining benefits; however, they differ in terms of their impact on short- or long-term benefits for firms. The channels related to joint and contract R&D, property rights, and human resources are the best, as they have a higher impact on long-term benefits for firms. Policy implications derived from this study focus on specific actions that enhance those researchers’ characteristics related to the best channels for fostering long-term benefits for firms.