University–industry collaboration and technological innovation: sequential mediation of knowledge transfer and barriers in automotive and biotechnology firms in Malaysia

Technological Innovation (TI) is a critical outcome of innovation systems. Previous studieshave investigated the drivers of university –industry (U – I) collaborations without looking atrelationships and their influencing factors. This paper fills this gap by examining U – I linksin the automotive and biotechnology sectors in Malaysia. The exercise produced three keyresults. Firstly, there was a significant but negative association between perceived importanceof universities and firm-level TI, which indicates that firms have used universities inMalaysia less than their perceived importance. Secondly, the results demonstrate that thesequential effect of knowledge transfer (KT) channels and perceived barriers fully mediatethe relationship between universities and TI. Firms that regard universities as important toTI also placed emphasis on KT channels and barriers. While professional recognition andadvancement depend on being first to disclose and publish research results, industrialinnovation relies heavily on secrecy. Thirdly, the perceived importance of universities whenviewed together with KT channels and perceived barriers, explains and predicts firm-levelTI, which was significantly different in the two sectors. Furthermore, automotive firmsreported higher perceived importance of universities than biotechnology firms in research,teaching, and entrepreneurship.