Knowledge spillover from university research before the national innovation system reform in Japan: localisation, mechanisms, and intermediaries

This study examines whether and how university knowledge affected industry R&D in theperiod when university –industry collaborations encountered institutional barriers. Panelestimation of the regional knowledge production function (1983 –1996) revealed thatuniversity research had localised impacts on industrial innovations, measured by patentsfiled by the Japanese firms, with a five-year lag. University –industry joint research did notact as a conduit of university spillover, which suggests that informal channels, such asvoluntary transfer of academic inventions in return to donation, worked in the pre-reformperiod. Intermediaries as a part of regional innovation policy, represented as local publictechnology centres, exerted a positive impact on industrial innovations in the region. Theirimmediate impacts suggest the contribution of technology diffusion, such as technicalconsultation, that help small local firms solve current problems while their far-reachingimpacts suggest the importance of knowledge creation, such as own research.