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Doctoral Education and Economic Development: The Flow of New Ph.D.s to Industry
Abstract
Doctoral education in science and engineering is critical to the university’s role in fostering economic development. One aspect of this is the placement of recent graduates with firms. Despite the role Ph.D.s play in this process, little work has documented and analyzed these firm placements. This article takes a first step at rectifying this deficiency, using data from the 1997-1999 Survey of Earned Doctorates administered by the National Science Foundation to all doctoral recipients in the United States. The authors show that knowledge sources, as measured by the training location of new Ph.D.s going to industry, are concentrated in different geographic centers from those that university R&Dexpenditure data would suggest. The authors also find significant outflows from the Midwest of Ph.D.s and significant inflows to the Pacific and northeast regions of the country. The authors’work suggests that many states fail to capture the economic development advantages that come from training a skilled work force.
... Researchers found that the mobility between different regions was not balanced, and some regions are obviously more attractive to Ph.Ds than others. For example, Stephan et al. studied the regional mobility of Ph.Ds employed in enterprises and found that a large number of Ph.D. graduates from universities in the Midwest of the United States flowed to other regions, and the Pacific and Northeast regions were the main destinations (Stephan et al., 2004). In Italy, Ph.D. graduates from the south tend to move to the north, while Ph.D. graduates from the north tend to move abroad (Ruiu et al., 2019). ...
... Finally, studies have found that the proportion of Ph.Ds who are employed in enterprises is high. For example, research by Stephan et al. suggested that only a quarter of the Ph.Ds employed by companies have received doctoral education in the area where they are employed (Stephan et al., 2004). Another study found that only one-third of US Ph.D. graduates who went to work in companies stayed in the state where they received their doctoral degrees (Sumell et al., 2009). ...
... Compared with Ph.D. graduates in the east, doctoral graduates in the west are more likely to migrate to other provinces for employment, and provinces in the east attract more Ph.Ds graduates than provinces in the west. The regional effect of talents' regional mobility exists in many countries (Ruiu et al., 2019;Stephan et al., 2004). As mentioned above, for a region, the better its economy (Scott, 2010), scientific research conditions (Guth & Gill, 2008) or amenity (Gottlieb & Joseph, 2006) is, the more likely it is to attract talents, especially excellent ones. ...
Based on the national survey data of doctoral graduates in 2016, this article analyzes the influencing factors of the inter-provincial mobility of PhDs, and focuses on the inflow and outflow of Ph.D. graduates in Guangdong. The result shows that if Ph.D.’s institution is located in the same place as the place of residence or pre-degree college, the possibility of doctoral employment in this region will increase greatly. The study also finds that more than 65% of Ph.D. graduates are employed in higher education institutions. These results support the important role of higher education institutions in the recruitment of Ph.D. graduates. In order to better achieve the development goals of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Guangdong Province needs to pay more attention to the accumulation of Ph.D. graduates for the region through the construction of high-level universities in the future.
... Therefore, KM practices in universities and research centers can be used as leverages, towards the direction of prosperity and long-term economic growth. What is more, Stephan et al. (2004) claimed that doctoral education in science and engineering is critical to the university's role in promoting economic development to the whole region and the country. ...
... To begin with, Wendler et al. (2010) concluded that graduate education programs are the key to long-term growth and the future of the innovation economy. Furthermore, according to Stephan et al. (2004), graduate students are key subjects in the creation of new knowledge and in technology transfer, as doctoral programs train individuals who, on graduation, provide training for future highly educated employees, which results in productivity growth, and consequently growth in tax revenues. They also serve as a talent magnet, attracting gifted students and faculty from outside the country, they provide a source of expertise for local businesses, enhancing the productivity of industries already established in the area (Stephan, 2004). ...
... Furthermore, according to Stephan et al. (2004), graduate students are key subjects in the creation of new knowledge and in technology transfer, as doctoral programs train individuals who, on graduation, provide training for future highly educated employees, which results in productivity growth, and consequently growth in tax revenues. They also serve as a talent magnet, attracting gifted students and faculty from outside the country, they provide a source of expertise for local businesses, enhancing the productivity of industries already established in the area (Stephan, 2004). Ultimately, successful graduate students enhance the global reputation of the institution, and also boost the country's profile of global success. ...
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role and the scope of knowledge management (KM) in doctoral education, in the emerging knowledge economy (KE) context, and the recommendation of a framework for KM in doctoral education.
Design/methodology/approach
An extended literature analysis was contacted to elaborate the role and the scope of KM in universities and research institutions in the context of global KE, and the role of knowledge workers, including doctoral students, as well as, the current directions for doctoral education. Literature analysis is followed by synthesis of the proposed framework for KM in doctoral education toward KE.
Findings
A framework for KM in doctoral education is proposed, which could be used to enhance quality of doctoral studies and could lead to research optimization and innovation growth. Finally, proposals are recommended for enhancing KM in doctoral education and utilize doctoral students as knowledge workers and change factors toward the notion of global KE.
Originality/value
The paper is an effort to start filling the literature gap in the emerging but under-researched subject of KM regarding doctoral education in the context of KE, with the purpose to enhance quality of doctoral studies and capture the socio-economic development advantages that come from training such a highly skilled workforce.
... While we cannot give a conclusive answer as to why the use of academic knowledge decreases with distance, it explains why the effects of university hirings that we measure in our analysis are locally concentrated. These observations are consistent with the argument of Stephan et al. (2004) that doctoral education in science and engineering and the placement of graduates within firms are critical to the role universities play in fostering economic development. Our analysis thus contributes to the literature studying what private companies require in order to benefit commercially from basic science (e.g., Cohen and Levinthal, 1990;Agrawal, 2006). ...
... Cockburn and Henderson (1998) show that pharmaceutical companies' drug discovery performance benefits from investments in their absorptive capacity through inhouse basic research and coauthorships of scientific papers with publicly funded researchers. Stephan et al. (2004) emphasize that doctoral education in science and engineering and the placement of graduates with firms are critical to the role universities play in fostering economic development. The importance of scientists as translators of scientific insights is also shown by Agrawal et al. (2006), who find that commercial products based on licenses from universities are more successful if university scientists participate in them as consultants. ...
Incentives can be powerful tools to enforce behavior and to stimulate and steer the economy. However, due to the complexity of how incentives are perceived by economic agents, designing effective incentive structures is difficult. A better understanding of incentives enables policymakers to design such policies, ultimately increasing overall well-being. This thesis advances our knowledge on how incentives work, how they change behavior, and how to effectively use them.
... In 2010, approximately 51% of engineering Ph.D. recipients in the United States were foreign-born [6]. Within engineering, the number of Ph.D. recipients entering industry versus academia continues to increase, with the majority of engineering Ph.D. recipients reporting their intentions to work in industry [7]. In 2003, 47% of all Ph.D. recipients in science and engineering were employed at educational institutions, 6% were self-employed, and the remaining 47% worked within government and private sectors [8]. ...
... Of recent graduates with engineering doctoral degrees and definite post-graduation U.S. employment commitments, the majority secure careers in industry (64.4% in 2010 compared to 16.9% in academia [6]). Although recent literature has reported geographic trends among engineering Ph.D. recipients [7], the desired skills and attributes expected of engineers [9,10], and doctoral graduates' career preferences [11], limited research has explored the experiences and characteristics of engineering Ph.D. holders via curricula vitae (CV) analyses. In addition, although studies have explored the expectations of industry for engineering undergraduates [12,13] and of engineering doctoral students [14] and have presented a case for exploring alternative pathways for engineering Ph.D. holders [15], few studies have grounded their work in existing theoretical frameworks. ...
In recent years there have been discussions surrounding the under-preparedness of Ph.D. graduates of highly specialized doctoral programs, lacking interdisciplinary focus and professional skill development, to succeed in future complex work environments. To address these concerns, Golde and Walker suggest re-conceptualizing doctoral education such that Ph.D. holders are developed as "stewards" of their disciplines. To provide initial insights into how engineering can be viewed through a stewardship lens, the authors conducted a content analysis of thirty-six curricula vitae of engineering Ph.D. holders who have been employed in one of four occupational sectors- (1) academia only, (2) industry only, (3) academia and then industry, or(4) industry and then academia. Thiseffort seekstooperationalize their experiences into the three tenants of the stewardship framework - generation, conservation and transformation - and provide a new perspective for future discussions around the preparation and expectations of engineering Ph.D. holders. Industry participants reported higher generation and conservation than academia only participants; academia to industry participants reported higher instances of generation followed by conservation; industry to academia participants, on average, reported higher generation; and a new category, "other," was the lowest instance across all groups.
... Fonte: elaboração própria, baseado em Gibbons (1998), , Stephan et al., 2004, Daude (2010 ...
... Possuem estruturas complexas de governança, excessiva carga de trabalho e ausência de centralidade para iniciativas de mudança (ECKEL & KEZAR, 2003, HARPE & THOMAS, 2009).As universidades provêm elementos para o desenvolvimento econômico: treinamento para as pessoas, atraem talentos de outros lugares, são fontes de especialistas para variados setores industriais, e formação de professores. Tecnologias-chave são desenvolvidas nas universidades e eventualmente levam ao surgimento de novos negócios(STEPHAN et al., 2004). ...
O objetivo do artigo foi verificar como a educação pode ser
modificada para promover o desenvolvimento da região de influência
do Porto de Suape em Pernambuco. O estudo foi exploratório e
qualitativo baseado em revisão da literatura e em entrevistas semiestruturadas
com respondentes de governos, empresas e instituições de
ensino e de pesquisa. Os resultados apontam para a integração entre
as empresas e as instituições de ensino e de pesquisa desde o nível
básico até a pós-graduação. É necessário projetar novos currículos
com a participação intensas da sociedade interessada e das empresas,
e promover o campo de trabalho como campo de estudo e de pesquisa.
As limitações do estudo são a quantidade de respondentes e a
concentração no Estado de Pernambuco, além do uso da entrevista
como fonte de dados primários. A relevância da pesquisa está em
apontar direções para uma mudança estrutural nos sistemas
educacionais a fim de desenvolver econômica e socialmente a Região
Nordeste.
... engineering vs. science) (Fritsch and Krabel 2012;Gu, Levin, and Luo 2018). Also, geographical areas with a concentration of innovative companies find more employment of Ph.D. graduates in the private sector (Stephan et al. 2004). Finally, the macroeconomic environment influences students' employment decision (Boulos 2016). ...
... La Unión Europea defiende que la economía del conocimiento requiere la formación y el empleo de personal altamente cualificado para hacer frente a los retos económicos, sociales y medioambientales actuales (EUA -CDE, 2019). En concreto, varios autores consideran que los doctores son actores claves en el escenario económico actual debido a que disponen de un bagaje de conocimientos altamente especializados, de competencias estratégicas (como la capacidad de resolución de problemas complejos o de pensamiento disruptivo) y de una red de contactos profesionales que facilitan la absorción, descodificación, aplicación y comercialización del conocimiento científico generado por las organizaciones del sistema público de investigación -principalmente, por universidades y organismos de investigación- (Stephan et al., 2004;Herrera et al., 2010;Diamond et al., 2014;Paolo y Mañé, 2016;Bryan y Guccione, 2018). Además, la movilidad de doctores entre diferentes organizaciones del sistema de innovación constituye un mecanismo saludable de transferencia de conocimiento que contribuye a dinamizar y a fortalecer las relaciones de colaboración entre el sector académico y el industrial (Partha y David, 1994;Arora y Gambardella, 1997;Mangematin, 2000;García Quevedo et al., 2012). ...
Los doctores son considerados actores claves en la actual economía del conocimiento debido a que disponen de conocimientos altamente especializados y de competencias estratégicas que facilitan los procesos de transferencia de conocimiento entre las organizaciones de los sistemas de innovación. Sin embargo, algunos estudios alertan de las dificultades que experimentan los doctores de algunas áreas para acceder a puestos de trabajo permanentes acordes a su nivel de cualificación y a sus expectativas salariales. El objetivo de este trabajo es describir el mercado de trabajo de los doctores en España, para determinar el alcance de los problemas de precariedad laboral y de sobrecualificación en cada área de conocimiento. Este trabajo analiza los datos de la Encuesta de Inserción Laboral de los Titulados Universitarios 2019 del Instituto Nacional de Estadística. Los resultados muestran que el título de doctor no ofrece protección contra el problema de inestabilidad del mercado laboral español, especialmente en el área de ciencias. Este título tampoco constituye necesariamente un pasaporte de acceso a empleos cualificados.
... Studies have examined the determinants of the recruitment by firms of PhD graduates to carry out research and development (R&D) activities. Studies have also shown the positive effects of hiring PhDs on firms' innovation activities and performance (Stephan et al., 2004;Garcia-Quevedo et al., 2012;Herrera and Nieto, 2015). However, this academically important issue has even broader repercussions because of its relevance, practical impact and policy implications. ...
PhD graduates can help companies transfer knowledge from universities to firms. Scholars have analysed the determinants of PhD recruitment by firms and its effects on their innovation activities. However, little is known about what happens when a firm loses employees with PhDs. The aim of this paper is to compare the effects on the relationships of firms with universities when these firms lose PhDs versus when they hire PhDs to work in R&D. These effects may be symmetrical or non-symmetrical depending on the abilities of firms to retain the connections and knowledge acquired by hiring PhDs. We consider four types of relationships: collaboration with universities, universities as a source of innovation, academic journals as a source of innovation and the purchase of R&D services from universities. We use data from the Spanish Technological Innovation Panel (PITEC) for the period 2006 to 2015. The results illustrate the central role of PhDs in the linkages between industry and academia. The recruitment of PhDs has a positive effect on collaboration between firms and universities and on the purchase of R&D services from universities. By contrast, the loss of PhDs has a negative effect on collaboration with universities but not on the acquisition of R&D.
... Labor mobility between academia and industry is an important channel of knowledge transfer when there is an expectation of breakthroughs and when the knowledge is not easy to codify and, consequently, to be published (Bekkers & Bodas Freitas, 2008). As knowledge is located in human heads, the mobility of PhD graduates to the industry thus represents one mechanism for the transfer of tacit knowledge (Stephan, 2006;Stephan, Sumell, Black, & Adams, 2004). Buenstorf and Heinisch (2020: 1) defined PhD graduates and highlighted their benefits within the industry as: "highly specialized expert who worked for several years on advancing the state of the art in their field of research. ...
14539 2 Academic scientists mobility: The hidden pipe of tacit knowledge transfer from academia to industry ABSTRACT Knowledge transfer (KT) from academia to industry is critical to support economic growth and to contribute to a local open innovation ecosystem. Research on university-industry knowledge transfer (UIKT) mainly focuses on codified knowledge. However, the vast majority of knowledge produced by academia is tacit and, in some cases, cannot be made explicit thus remaining embodied in individuals. Building on knowledge management theory and social network theory, this article proposes that socialization occurs in two forms, weak and strong socialization, and that strong socialization is needed for tacit UIKT. We propose that professional mobility of PhD graduates is an instrument to measure tacit UIKT. Through a database of the PhD graduates of a large pluridisciplinary European university, our results show that fields hardness and applicability have a positive effect on tacit UIKT and that alignment with national industrial specialization and free-movement policies influence tacit KT to the national industry. We contribute to knowledge management theory by exploring academic scientists' mobility as a pipe of tacit UIKT as well as by extending the concept of socialization from intra-organizational to inter-organizational settings, by proposing the concepts of weak and strong socialization, and by showing how strong socialization and tacit UIKT depend on knowledge, industrial and political dimensions.
... The economic development and standard of living in any given country are closely related to the scientific and technological advances generated locally. Doctoral education in science and engineering plays a critical role in fostering such development, as doctoral programs in these fields train highly skilled individuals who, following diverse career paths, contribute the productivity of their countries 8 . Although public perceptions indicate that majority of doctorate holders pursue careers in academia, the "traditional segmentation of the research labor market where the doctorate was mainly valuable in the academic sector is losing ground" (p. ...
... There is a bottleneck in the academic labour market, as career progress is very pyramidal; recent doctorate holders can accept postdoctoral positions, one after another, without being assured to finally get a tenure track position (Andalib et al., 2018;Auriol et al., 2013;Brechelmacher, Park, & Ates, 2015;Hayter & Parker, 2019;Recotillet, 2007). Finding a job outside academia is also possible for doctorate holders, both from STEM and SSH disciplines (Drejer, Holm, & Østergaard, 2016;Fritsch & Krabel, 2012;Neumann & Tan, 2011;Stephan, Sumell, Black, & Adams, 2004). Actually, it is sometimes a first choice for them: research is not conducted by universities only, but also by research institutes and companies (Cañibano et al., 2018). ...
... The geographical dimension of doctorate holders' employment situation depends on both pull and push factors. Stephan, Sumell, Black, and Adams (2004), focusing on the choice of geographical location of doctorate holders in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics disciplines) who are hired in the private sector in the United States, observed that 'many states fail to capture the economic development advantages that come from training a skilled work force' (p. 1). More recently, Zolas et al. (2015) found that US doctoral graduates in STEM tend to spread nationally, including those who are hired by the private sector. ...
Even though the doctoral degree was originally designed for an academic career, there is an increasingly important labour market for doctorate holders outside academia, mainly because of a shortage of job opportunities within it. Doctoral degrees are granted only by universities; thus, universities are the only suppliers of the doctoral workforce to the labour market. Understanding the needs of non-academic employers is thus crucial if universities are to adapt their doctoral education curriculum. Many studies have analyzed labour markets for doctorate holders at national and transnational scales, but few studies focus on the regional scale. The present study explores regional data for Catalonia in Spain on the employment situation of doctorate holders in order to define the characteristics of the regional, non-academic labour market for doctorate holders. Descriptive statistics suggest a high retention rate of doctorate holders within the region and a large part of doctorate holders (two-thirds) having a job that does not require a doctoral degree. This study highlights the existence of a skills mismatch that might be linked to the preference for a better paid or more stable job, or to the lack of development of skills that represent added value in the eyes of employers. These characteristics can be formulated as hypotheses to be tested in further qualitative or quantitative studies. They have several implications for universities, non-academic employers and regional policy-makers, such as the need to work on the valorization of the doctoral degree in the non-academic labour market.
... While modest in number, some individuals enter PhD programs to obtain a job in industry (Mangematin, 2000) or choose to do so later upon completion of their PhD (Gibbs et al., 2014;Harman, 2002;Lee et al., 2010;Recotillet, 2007;Sauermann and Roach, 2012;Stephan et al., 2004). Taking a job in industry is also associated with waning interest in increasingly unattractive faculty careers (Fitzenberg and Schultze, 2014;Sauermann and Roach, 2012). ...
... While modest in number, some individuals enter PhD programs to obtain a job in industry (Mangematin, 2000) or choose to do so later upon completion of their PhD (Gibbs et al., 2014;Harman, 2002;Lee et al., 2010;Recotillet, 2007;Sauermann and Roach, 2012;Stephan et al., 2004). Taking a job in industry is also associated with waning interest in increasingly unattractive faculty careers (Fitzenberg and Schultze, 2014;Sauermann and Roach, 2012). ...
While postdoctoral fellowships are viewed as positions that prepare PhD students for academic careers, studies show that most postdocs will not find tenure-track employment within universities. Postdocs consequently pursue non-academic jobs that differ in the degree to which they utilize a postdoc's scientific training, yet we know little about how this occurs. To help address this gap, this study inductively investigates factors that may influence a postdoc's transition to a non-academic career. The study uncovers multiple individual, PI, as well as organizational and policy factors, including the lack of relevant skills, absence of support-and in some cases opposition-from their principal investigators, and poor availability of non-academic career preparation opportunities, among others. Viewed collectively, these elements likely hinder a move to non-academic scientific positions and thus have consequences for postdoc career trajectories and, by extension, the utilization of new knowledge. The paper opens the door for future research, theorization, and policy action that might smooth the transition of postdocs into non-academic careers and potentially improve the impact of publicly-funded research. 2
... Academia is no longer the primary career for biomedical scientists who have shifted over time to consider academia as a secondary employment type [15,26]. From approximately 1965 to 2017, the proportion of science PhD holders who obtained tenured academic positions has dropped steadily; more PhD degrees were awarded than the number of positions available [4,6,[8][9][10]. ...
The number of biomedical PhD scientists undergoing training and graduating far exceeds the number of academic faculty positions and academic research jobs. This trend compels biomedical PhD scientists to increasingly seek career paths outside of academia. Prior studies have used quantitative methodology to determine trends and outcomes of single factors contributing to this shift, but there is a literature gap in studies considering multiple factors and in qualitative work focusing on biomedical PhD scientists’ experiences and their processes of career navigation. This paper draws on a social cognitive career theory (SCCT) framework and incorporates case study data from a southeastern Tier 1 research university to explore a nexus of factors influencing PhD scientists’ employment sector preferences and job search processes. It simultaneously concludes that relationships with faculty, particularly the mentor advisor, are essential to the opportunities available to these professionals and to the career paths they choose.
... Along with the saturation of the academic labor market, the graduates' employment preferences and sector distribution have undergone gradual diversification. Stephan et al. (2004) investigated the PhD graduates' employment in enterprises in the US, including the types and R&D capabilities. In another study, they found that the graduates are mainly employed by enterprises in various industries, such as telecommunication, computer, semiconductor, pharmacy, electronics, and transportation (Stephan et al. 2005). ...
PhD graduates play an important role in the national innovation system. However, only a few studies have explored Chinese PhD graduates’ employment and development prospects because of limited data. To fill in this gap, this study conducted a survey of doctoral recipients in 13 Chinese universities. The authors drew on the national survey data and in-depth interviews to critically analyze the PhD graduates’ job preferences, employment outcomes, and factors that affect their employment sectors. Results indicate a notable difference between the graduates’ job preferences and their employment outcomes. The proportion of employment in academia is substantially below expected, particularly among female graduates. This study specifically focuses on the impact of gender and scientific output (including articles and patents) on the employment outcomes of PhD graduates. Compared with graduates employed by the non-academic sectors, male graduates have a lower probability of employment in universities and research institutions. Compared with those working in enterprises, PhD graduates employed in universities and research institutions published more during their doctoral study. For graduates who majored in science, engineering, and agricultural sciences, having patents increases their probability of working in the enterprises. © 2018 Education Research Institute, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea
... he trend towards more interdisciplinary approaches compared with the above (mono) disciplinary ones. This means to build bridges between different branches of science in order to cope with today's world complexity (Porter & Rafols, 2009). A significant number of studies of university contributions to society have been published in the past decades (Stephan et. al., 2004;Lester et al., 2005;OECD, 2007;Power et. Al., 2008;Nordregio, 2012), the majority have focused on formal mechanisms (Bazeley,1999;Dietz & Bozeman, 2005) of knowledge transfer, including patents, licenses or royalty agreements, at the university context (institutional level) (Bozeman, 2000;Breznitz & Feldman, 2012). This makes difficult t ...
Academic organisations do not have the resources to hire the increasing number of PhD graduates that universities are producing each year. Non-academic organisations are thus becoming an important and growing employment niche for these highly skilled and qualified individuals. However, little is currently known about how and why PhDs are valued by labour markets, or how PhDs are contributing to the contextualised problems and challenges of non-academic organisations. This article aims to overcome these knowledge gaps by investigating the role of PhD holders as change agents in non-academic labour markets. To accomplish this research objective, the study is focused on interactions between the highly skilled PhD-trained workforce and labour markets in a specific geographical and sectoral setting. Based on a literature review, the theoretical framework will be developed. Subsequently, a case study will provide a qualitative assessment of a specific labour market reality in which PhD holders enter non-academic organisations. According to the European Innovation Scoreboard, Spain is a moderate innovator. This country will be the geographical and institutional setting for conducting the fieldwork. The selected industry to be studied is textiles, as representative of low-tech industries. The case study contains new analytical dimensions and evidences and, hence, will illustrate the complex nature of what is a global concern regarding the supply of highly skilled human capital and labour market outcomes, even in low-tech contexts. Primary data was collected by conducting twenty interviews with PhD holders from varied disciplines, along with managers of non-academic organisations in the selected industry. The results aim to inspire a more informed and critical dialogue regarding the value and utility of PhD holders in non-academic labour markets within the frame of the so-called 'knowledge society'.
... The value of Ph.D. graduates in university-industry collaboration has been highlighted in some studies (Stephan et al. 2004;Cruz-Castro and Sanz-Menendez 2005;Thune 2009Thune , 2010. Doctoral candidates are not only seen as a channel of knowledge transferring among university and industry, they are also source of knowledge creation and they can maintain the connection between university and industry (Thune 2009). ...
Project:
The weights of the inputs and outputs can be identified using a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) method. Data on inputs and outputs are collected from 51 Ph.D. candidates who graduated from Eindhoven University of Technology. The weights are identified using a new MCDM method called Best Worst Method (BWM). Because there may be differences in the opinion of Ph.D. candidates and supervisors on weighing the inputs and outputs, data for BWM are collected from both groups. It is interesting to see that there are differences in the level of efficiency from the two perspectives, because of the weight differences. Moreover, a comparison between the efficiency scores of these projects and their success scores reveals differences that may have significant implications. A sensitivity analysis divulges the most contributing inputs and outputs.
... Furthermore, some underrepresented groups in science and engineering and early-career individuals are oversampled in SDR so that meaningful statistical analysis can be obtained for these underrepresented groups. SDR data have been used by researchers to understand various issues concerning the experiences and career outcomes of doctorate recipients in science and engineering fields and women doctorate recipients (e.g., Mason and Goulden, 2004;Stephan et al., 2004;Whittington, 2011;Tao and Hanson, 2015). The sample analyzed in this study is restricted to individuals, both U.S. and non-U.S. ...
This paper examines gender differences among engineering doctorate recipients in employment in seven types of positions in a multivariate context: academic research, teaching, non-faculty academic positions; industrial research, non-research industrial positions; government research, and non-research government positions. Multinomial logistic regression analyses show gender differences in employment and highlight sex segregation in several positions, especially industrial research. Women are more likely than men to be in academic research, teaching, government research, and non-research government positions relative to industrial research. The results confirm the findings in sex segregation literature that men and women are sorted into different positions based on the status and pay of the positions but also provide new insights in the context of a highly educated engineering workforce. Limitations and policy implications are also discussed.
... In addition, the complexity and tacit nature of scientific knowledge implies high costs in terms of knowledge transfer and exploitation. The recruitment of PhDs may help to overcome these problems, providing better ties with universities and public research institutions (García-Quevedo et al., 2012), and act as a channel, bringing the knowledge embodied in these graduates into industry (Stephan et al., 2004). ...
In this article, we examine the impact of subsidies granted at national and regional levels on a set of research and development (R&D) employment variables, and we specifically seek to identify the existence of additional effects of these public subsidies on the R&D human resources of firms. We begin by assessing the effects of public funds on private R&D expenditure and on the number of R&D employees , and then focus on the impact of these funds on the composition of human resources engaged in R&D classified by occupation and level of education. The data used are from the Spanish Technological Innovation Panel for the period 2006–2011. To control for selection bias and endogene-ity, a combination of nonparametric matching techniques is used. Our results show that R&D subsidies increase the number of R&D employees, but no contemporaneous increase is found in the average level of qualification of R&D staff members in subsidized firms. Nevertheless, in the subsequent years there is a positive effect on the recruitment of PhD holders. The effects of public support are heterogeneous and are dependent on the source of the subsidy and the firms' characteristics. JEL classification: O38, J24, H25, C14.
... 2 There is a specific reason why we decided to collect data for our study at a technical university. As argued by Stephan et al. (2004), doctoral education in science and engineering is critical to the role universities play in fostering economic development. Therefore we are much more likely to find this type of collaboration (industry-university) in technical rather than other universities. ...
Faced with ever-increasing pressure to innovate, firms consider universities to be significant sources of knowledge. Such
knowledge flow can take place in a variety of ways such as academic publications and contract research, but also in more collaborative
modes such as joint research projects. This paper focuses on a specific collaborative model, in which firms and universities
are involved together in a PhD project. We analyze the effects of project management, communication, and supervision characteristics
on the success of such PhD projects using a survey conducted at Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands. We conclude
that management decisions, supervision and communication characteristics have a significant impact on the ultimate success
of a project. Among other things, the choice of university supervisor plays a pivotal role. Success is more likely if there
is joint decision-making by both university and partner. We believe our findings help universities and firms to collaborate
successfully.
... The economic development and standard of living in any given country are closely related to the scientific and technological advances generated locally. Doctoral education in science and engineering plays a critical role in fostering such development, as doctoral programs in these fields train highly skilled individuals who, following diverse career paths, contribute the productivity of their countries 8 . Although public perceptions indicate that majority of doctorate holders pursue careers in academia, the "traditional segmentation of the research labor market where the doctorate was mainly valuable in the academic sector is losing ground" (p. ...
Our study presents the career trajectories of engineering Ph.D.s from the perspectives of both industry and academia. In this report, we identified approximately 34 engineering Ph.D. graduates from U.S. programs who: (1) worked only in academia; (2) worked only in industry; (3) worked in academia first and now work in industry; or (4) worked in industry first and now work on academia. Using curricula vitae (CVs) as a main data source, we mapped out the detailed career trajectories of each participant. The comparisons within and across different groups characterized the particular career developmental models for each group. Both academia-only and industry-only groups demonstrate a relative linear developmental career path. However, it is notable that participants in the academia-only group tend to hold multiple appointments when compared to their industry-only peers. Participants from groups (3) and (4) showed much more complex career patterns than the first two groups. Also, all of our participants in the last two groups hold leadership positions currently. This observation emphasized the importance of leadership skills training for engineering Ph.D.s. Overall, this reports summarized pilot findings on career trajectories of engineering Ph.D.s. It provides unique insights for both the career planning of recent engineering Ph.D. graduates and the training and preparation of current engineering Ph.D.s.
... Location has gathered increasing interest in view of the high regional concentration of firm innovation activities and the importance of the proximity factor in the knowledge transfer process. Studies considering firm locations as a private sector PhD career predictor have demonstrated that firms in regions with a high concentration of innovation activity can attract more scientists and that individuals do not always find a job in the places where they obtained their PhD training (Zucker et al., 2002b; Stephan et al., 2004; Sumell et al., 2009). In general terms, the literature that has analyzed PhD careers in the private sector has not taken into account information relative to the firms. ...
... Uma mudança no sistema de distribuição do conhecimento é necessária para que a pesquisa e o ensino deixem um relativo isolamento institucional(GIBBONS, 1998).Universidades provêm elementos para o desenvolvimento: treinamentos; atraem talentos estrangeiros; são fontes de especialistas e de formação de professores. Tecnologias-chave são desenvolvidas nas universidades e eventualmente levam ao surgimento de novos negócios e empregos(STEPHAN et al., 2004).Nas empresas encontram-se variados problemas técnicos. Descobrem-se soluções criativas, céleres e econômicas. ...
O objetivo central deste trabalho foi identificar como o desenvolvimento do Nordeste do Brasil pode receber contribuições das empresas, governo e instituições de pesquisa e ensino na área de influência do Porto de Suape em Pernambuco. Portos industriais como Suape/PE são centros de promoção de desenvolvimento, pois as empresas e outras organizações geram conhecimento, empregos e renda nas suas áreas de influência. A pesquisa bibliográfica realizada foi exploratória e descritiva e considerou quais desafios foram superados pelos maiores portos mundiais, para descobrir os fatores críticos de sucesso na promoção do desenvolvimento de suas hinterlândias. Uma pesquisa de campo foi realizada com empresas, governos e instituições de pesquisa e ensino para obter dados relativos à Região Nordeste brasileira, através de entrevistas semi-estruturadas. As evidências indicam que é necessário formar redes e alianças estratégicas entre as entidades na hinterlândia de Suape, uma região com centro no Porto e raio de 800 km, abrangendo sete capitais e 90% do PIB nordestino. Tais associações permitirão desenvolver mais inovações, especialmente em processos, maior integração entre instituições de ensino e empresas, capital social e a educação será beneficiada pela orientação da formação para a vida e para o emprego, um fator crítico para o desenvolvimento. Engenharia de Produção, Infraestrutura e Desenvolvimento Sustentável: a Agenda Brasil+10 Curitiba, PR, Brasil, 07 a 10 de outubro de 2014.
... In addition, the complexity and tacit nature of scientific knowledge implies a high cost in terms of knowledge transfer and exploitation. The recruitment of PhDs may help to overcome these problems, providing better ties with universities and public research institutions (García-Quevedo et al., 2012) and serving as channel to bring the knowledge embodied in these graduates into industry (Stephan et al., 2004). ...
El propósito de este estudio fue analizar las prácticas de responsabilidad social empresarial en las micro, pequeñas y medianas empresas (Mipymes). A través de un sistema de ponderaciones, basado en la regularidad de implementación de programas de responsabilidad social, se examinó la frecuencia y las características de los programas de RSE implementados por estas empresas. La muestra utilizada fue de 225 firmas del municipio de Sincelejo, en el Departamento de Sucre, Colombia. Para la obtención de los datos se realizó encuesta persona a persona con los propietarios de las firmas en 2014. Los resultados muestran que las prácticas utilizadas con mayor frecuencia por las empresas, están relacionadas con el fomento del bienestar social de la comunidad y de los empleados, mientras que las actividades de gestión en la dirección operativa y en el uso de recursos ambientales se implementan con menos regularidad por las empresas. Los hallazgos son relevantes para evaluaciones posteriores sobre el manejo de prácticas socialmente responsables en las Mipymes Colombianas y de otros países en vías de desarrollo.
... Our population is defined as Ph.D. projects involving Eindhoven University of Technology (henceforth indicated by TU/e) and a firm or public research organization (PRO) that resulted in a published Ph.D. thesis between the years 2000 and 2011. 1 Here, it is important to stress that in The Netherlands, most of the public research organizations rely heavily on contract research and other sources of commercial funding, and have very limited public funding, quite differently from PROs in many other countries that are much closer to government agencies. 1 There is a specific reason why we decided to collect data for our study at a technical university: as argued by Stephan et al. (2004), doctoral education in science and engineering is critical to the role universities play in fostering economic development. Therefore we are much more likely to find this type of collaboration (industry-university) in technical rather than other universities. ...
... PhD-trained industrial researchers typically have strong knowledge recombination abilities and broad network ties (Dasgupta and David, 1994;Stephan et al., 2004;Gruber et al., 2012). They typically possess comprehensive academic knowledge, including tacit knowledge. ...
... Location has gathered increasing interest in view of the high regional concentration of firm innovation activities and the importance of the proximity factor in the knowledge transfer process. Studies considering firm locations as a private sector PhD career predictor have demonstrated that firms in regions with a high concentration of innovation activity can attract more scientists and that individuals do not always find a job in the places where they obtained their PhD training (Zucker et al., 2002b;Stephan et al., 2004;Sumell et al., 2009). ...
We have analysed the determinant factors which condition firms' employment of PhDs to undertake R&D activities. It has been traditionally thought that doctorate holders are employed only to generate and absorb scientific knowledge; nonetheless, our study has also revealed that there are additional reasons to employ PhD graduates. We have used an upstream–downstream approach of the innovation process, to establish which contingencies of this process increase the number of PhD holders in firms. We have focused on four contingencies: R&D cooperation, types of R&D activities, failures in the innovation process and key information sources to put into motion the innovation process. Results of this study have confirmed that PhD holders not only play upstream roles in the innovation process but in addition also downstream tasks undertaking knowledge exploitation activities.
... The research literature offers some examples that the former do not always work as designed. For example, if the human capital development strategy seems logical and easier to implement than the governance or sprawl strategy, recent research suggests that states' investment in education do not guarantee retaining highly educated professionals (Florida, 2002;Stephan et al., 2004). In these cases a sprawl or governance strategy may be an attractive proposition. ...
... Indeed, there is an absence of a classification scheme of labour market segments that can fully capture the characteristics of the knowledge economy. An insight into the nature of the segments within the S&E PhD labour market is provided by studies that demonstrate distinctive differences in incentives between academic scientists and industrial scientists (Dany and Mangematin, 2004; Enders, 2002, 2005; Fox and Stephan, 2001; Giret and Recotillet, 2004; Mangematin, 2000; Martinelli, 1999; Robin and Cahuzac, 2003; Stephan et al., 2004). Nevertheless, these categories seem insufficient to capture the observed characteristics of the knowledge economy for a comprehensive analysis of careers and of the labour market of S&E PhDs. ...
This paper examines the labour market of science and engineering PhDs. Drawing on a survey of science and engineering PhDs from a UK research-based university, this study employs job mobility histories to explore the labour market of science and engineering PhDs, including their knowledge and skill development. The results show that organisational careers are still an important feature of the labour market of science and engineering PhDs. Moreover, the paper derives distinctive features of the different segments of the labour market of science and engineering PhDs. We find that those employed in academic/public research experience internal labour markets but with a sharp contrast between core and periphery workers. Those employed outside the conventional technical occupations experience a highly hybrid labour market (strong occupational labour market features but promotions within organisations). Finally, those in technical positions in private sector manufacturing experience relatively more structured internal labour market features. Implications are drawn for the flow of knowledge and skills from science and engineering PhDs.
... In addition, the complexity and tacit nature of scientific knowledge implies a high cost in terms of knowledge transfer and exploitation. The recruitment of PhDs may help to overcome these problems, providing better ties with universities and public research institutions (García-Quevedo et al., 2012) and serving as channel to bring the knowledge embodied in these graduates into industry (Stephan et al., 2004). ...
In this article, we examine the impact of subsidies granted at national and regional levels on a set of research and development
(R&D) employment variables, and we specifically seek to identify the existence of additional effects of these public subsidies
on the R&D human resources of firms. We begin by assessing the effects of public funds on private R&D expenditure and on the
number of R&D employees, and then focus on the impact of these funds on the composition of human resources engaged in R&D
classified by occupation and level of education. The data used are from the Spanish Technological Innovation Panel for the
period 2006–2011. To control for selection bias and endogeneity, a combination of nonparametric matching techniques is used.
Our results show that R&D subsidies increase the number of R&D employees, but no contemporaneous increase is found in the
average level of qualification of R&D staff members in subsidized firms. Nevertheless, in the subsequent years there is a
positive effect on the recruitment of PhD holders. The effects of public support are heterogeneous and are dependent on the
source of the subsidy and the firms’ characteristics.
The Nigerian economy depends on its agricultural sector to provide employment and livelihood for two-thirds of its workforce and contributes 33% of gross domestic product (GDP). The need to sustain high level productivity in the agricultural sector led to the establishment of agricultural universities with mandate to promote education and research for development and attainment of self-sufficiency in food and fibre. Agriculture-based digital libraries have the potential to improve agricultural researchers’ access to up-to-date information but owing to different factors, they have been underutilized. Previous studies have failed to explore the factors determining user acceptance of these digital libraries particularly in Nigerian universities of agriculture. This study, therefore, investigated the individual and system factors predicting user acceptance of two agriculture-based digital libraries: Access to Global Online Resources in Agriculture (AGORA) and The Essential Electronic Agricultural Library (TEEAL).
Survey design was adopted. Proportionate stratified random sampling technique was used to select 780 participants comprising lecturers and postgraduate students of Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB); University of Agriculture, Makurdi (UAM) and Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike (MOUA). Data were collected using a structured questionnaire (r=0.79) to elicit response on individual factors (domain knowledge, computer use and interest to publish), system factors (accessibility, visibility, relevance, ICT infrastructure and library assistance) and user acceptance. Seven hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. Data were analysed using Spearman’s rank correlation and multiple regression.
The three individual factors together significantly predicted the perceived ease of use (R2=0.760, F=499.58) and perceived usefulness (R2=0.731, F=430.23) of the digital libraries. Domain knowledge was found to have the greatest contribution to perceived ease of use (β=0.872) and perceived usefulness (β=0.851). The five system factors jointly significantly predicted respondents’ perceived ease of use (R2=0.838, F=489.49) and perceived usefulness (R2=0.823, F=439.90). Relevance had the highest predictive power on perceived ease of use (54%) and perceived usefulness (66%) of the digital libraries. System factors were stronger (83%) in predicting user acceptance than individual factors (75%). Respondents’ perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness had a similar contribution of 82% to user acceptance of the digital libraries. User acceptance of digital libraries was significantly related to perceived ease of use (r=0.763) and perceived usefulness (r=0.758). For AGORA, perceived ease of use and usefulness predicted about 69% of user acceptance whereas for TEEAL, the contribution was higher (74%). Domain knowledge exerted the greatest influence on user acceptance at MOUA (82%) and FUNAAB (89%) and UAM (81%). Relevance made a substantial contribution to user acceptance at FUNAAB (54%), MOUA (65%) and UAM (58%).
Relevance of content and users’ domain knowledge were the two most important determinants of user acceptance of agriculture-based digital libraries in the universities. Therefore, relevance of digital libraries content and training programmes to improve users’ domain knowledge are important considerations in the design and implementation of digital libraries in Nigerian universities of agriculture.
A growing international literature has recently focused on the employment outcomes of Ph.D. holders, nowadays considered a strategic resource able to improve innovation and growth in contemporary knowledge economies. This article adds to previous studies by analyzing job satisfaction determinants among Ph.D. graduates in Italy. Drawing on data from the Italian National Institute of Statistics, we investigate the role exerted by the sector of employment, the typology of work and the area of the country where the Ph.D. holders studied and work. The empirical test, based on an ordered logit model and supported by analysis of marginal effects, highlights that university remains the favourite choice and that both the public and the private sectors do not adequately enhance the public effort devoted to Ph.D. education. Moreover, it indicates the existence of a significant North–South divide, mainly due to a scarce demand for R&D jobs in southern regions, suggesting that policy makers implement a capillary strategy aimed at filling this gap. Despite the peculiarity of the Italian case, this research suggests that regional divides within countries could affect the education systems of other EU countries, which are facing the transformation of the doctorate into a variety of school of highly educated workers.
This paper investigates the extent to which the returns to gaining a PhD degree depend upon the region of birth, the region where the degree was earned, and the place of work. Eastern Germany serves as an interesting showcase in light of the ongoing debate surrounding the underrepresentation of eastern Germans in top positions in Germany. We examine the career paths of eastern and western German PhD holders who completed their dissertations between 1995 and 2010. We estimate the returns with regard to obtaining a job suited to their skill level and with high wages. Our data set combines information on PhD holders and their place of birth collected from data on PhD dissertations in Germany with data from administrative social security records. This record linkage approach provides a unique source of individual employ-ment and wage biographies of eastern and western German PhD graduates. Our findings show that labor market success is affected neither by being born in eastern Germany nor by earning a PhD at an eastern German university. However, the place of work does matter, suggesting that the stark differences between the two parts of Germany with regard to labor market con-ditions is the main reason for the differences in the labor market prospects of PhD holders from eastern and western Germany.
Ph.D. graduates are an important force in the national innovation system and an important force in enterprise R&D. This paper analyzes the employment situation of Ph.D. graduates to industry by using the survey data of doctoral graduates in 2016. The study found that the willingness and actual proportion of doctoral graduates to employment in enterprises are not high. For doctoral students with a background in science, engineering and agriculture, men and doctoral students who have obtained patents during their studies are more likely to be employed by industry. The number of academic publications for doctoral students who are employed in industry is lower during their studies. In addition, the proportion of Ph.D. graduates in industry who are engaged in R&D is not high. Compared with doctoral graduates who are employed in other sectors, the proportion of the doctoral graduates in enterprises who think that the jobs closely related to the majors they study is significantly lower. Chinese enterprises should further enhance their research and development capabilities, improve their development platforms and higher remuneration packages, and attract more doctoral graduates to the system.
Cambridge Core - Political Economy - Big-Time Sports in American Universities - by Charles T. Clotfelter
Human capital is indispensable for regional innovation and economic growth, and PhD graduates (PhDs) play an important role in these processes. This is the first study describing the geographic origin and current work location of PhDs from Dutch universities, which are located in a densely populated area with a high concentration of basic science and science-based industries. Our study shows that their country of origin is strongly related to the field of study, as engineering PhDs were born outside The Netherlands much more often than PhDs from other fields. Furthermore, we show that PhDs disproportionally come from the same region as where the PhD university is located. PhDs also frequently did their pre-PhD degree at the university where they obtained their PhD degree. Finally, a disproportionate number of PhDs stay in the PhD region to work, especially if they also did their pre-PhD degrees at the PhD university. The extent of PhDs staying in the PhD region varies by sector, with PhDs in the higher education sector staying in the PhD region more often than PhDs working in other sectors. This implies that the geographic concentration of PhDs in the region of the PhD university is mainly due to PhDs staying to work at the same university rather than employment opportunities in other (science-based) industries - a finding at odds with Dutch science policy, which promotes mobility in academia but also stresses the importance of the region in innovation by science-based industries. ©The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: [email protected]
Economists have long believed education is essential to the acquisition of human capital and contributes to economic growth. However, education researchers, political and business leaders, and other stakeholders have raised concerns about the quality and costs of the K–12 education system in the United States and the implications for the development of the nation’s future workforce. Some of these groups have called for more innovation in K–12 education, leveraging technology in the classroom and experimenting with different organizing models for schools, both as a means to lower costs and increase quality. To shed light on the prospects of this approach, I review the economics literature at the intersection between innovation and K–12 education from two different, but related, perspectives. First, I summarize the evidence about the efficacy of technological and other kinds of innovation in the classroom. Second, I discuss the state of research on how the American K–12 system influences the production of innovators and entrepreneurs. In both instances, I identify implications for policy and opportunities for future research to generate actionable insights, particularly around increasing the low levels of research and development in the education sector.
The central theme in our chapter revolves around the question of why university graduates choose to start a doctorate. Do they decide to write a doctoral dissertation to improve their competencies and skills so they have better access to high-level, better-paid jobs on the labor market? Or is this decision also based on intrinsic motivations, such as a passion for scientific research and its inherently problem-solving nature? To borrow some of the terminology introduced by Lam (2011), we could formulate our research question as follows: are university graduates motivated by financial rewards (‘gold’), academic status (‘ribbon’) or scientific challenges (‘puzzle’)? In the rest of the chapter, we will focus on the gold and the puzzle; we did not take into account a variable for ribbon in our analyses. This was partly dictated by the absence of a direct, reliable proxy but also by a concern not to make our models overly complex. The measurement of extrinsic, pecuniary motivation can be done by making use of the variable salary. However, salary can also have a broader interpretation given that upward movements on the hierarchical ladder of organizations are mostly accompanied by salary increases. According to the principles of human capital theory, employees acquire knowledge, competencies and skills on the jobs they perform and this accumulation of human capital is partly capitalized in their salary level. Topel (1991), for example, found that 10 years of seniority increases salaries in general by more than 25 %.
The ‘knowledge economy’ is said to depend increasingly on capacities for innovation, knowledge-generation and complex problem-solving – capacities attributed to university graduates with research degrees. To what extent, however, is the labour market absorbing and fully utilising these capabilities? Drawing on data from a recent cohort of PhD graduates, we examine the correlates and consequences of qualification and skills mismatch. We show that job characteristics such as economic sector and main work activity play a fundamental and direct role in explaining the phenomenon of mismatch, experienced as overeducation and overskilling. Academic attributes operate mostly indirectly in explaining this mismatch, since their effect loses importance once we control for job-related characteristics. We detected a significant earnings penalty for those who are both overeducated and overskilled. Being mismatched reduces satisfaction with the job as a whole and with non-monetary aspects of the job, especially for those whose skills are underutilised. Overall, the problem of mismatch among PhD graduates is closely related to the demand-side constraints of the labour market. Increasing the number of adequate jobs and broadening the job skills that PhD students acquire during training should be explored as possible responses.
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to analyse differences in overall job satisfaction and specific job domain satisfaction among PhDs employed in different sectors four years after completing their doctorate degrees. The author take job satisfaction as a comprehensive proxy of perceived job quality. The author draw on data from two successive cohorts of PhD graduates from public universities of Catalonia (Spain).
Design/methodology/approach
– First, the author estimate covariate-adjusted job satisfaction differentials for PhD holders employed in different employment sectors, namely: university, research institutes, public sector (government and public administration) and private sector. A stepwise inclusion of job-related covariates enables appreciating the underlying mechanisms that that generate the observed job satisfaction differentials across sectors. Second, the author take into account the endogenous sorting of PhDs into different sectors by jointly modelling sector choice and job satisfaction, where the former is assumed to follow a mixed multinomial logit model.
Findings
– The results indicate that PhD holders employed outside academic and research jobs are more satisfied with the pecuniary facets of their work, but significantly less satisfied with non-monetary aspects of job quality. The selectivity-corrected job satisfaction differentials highlight the importance of self-selection and confirm that PhD holders suffer a penalisation for working in non-academic occupations, thus revealing the existence of “academic rents”.
Originality/value
– This is the first paper that presents a systematic and consistent analysis of job satisfaction differentials among PhD holders that work in different types of occupations, taking into account that sector choice is an endogenous variable, potentially related to unobserved traits that affect job satisfaction. The results are rich of policy implications, which are especially relevant in the light of the existing debate regarding the excess of PhD in the labour market of several European Countries and their subsequent risk of underemployment.
The aim of that thesis is to bring a micro level contribution to the economics of innovation when using original datasets on the French case. Here the manuscript is structured in three chapters: the labour market of scientists and engineers, the incentives for innovation in the private sector and the existence of spatial spillovers in the school to work transition for graduates in science and engineering (S & I). In the first chapter of this thesis, we focus on the labour market for scientists and engineers. First, we identify the different characteristics of this labour market. We then analyze the determinants of access to R & D for young graduates in S & I. Finally, we question more broadly on the valuation of R & D in private companies. We determine whether it pays, or not, for an engineer to track his career in R & D. This analysis of the labor market of scientists in industry shows that there is no direct return in R & D activities. This result raises the question about incentives. The second chapter is centered on those incentives for innovation in the private sector. The measurement for innovation is that the engineer has filed a patent, usually chosen indicator to measure innovation at the firm level. We are therefore interested in the variety of monetary incentives received by the inventors in private sector. The literature shows two types of monetary incentives: i) incentives related to performance of the inventor (wage level) ii) related to business performance (stock-options grants). We pay particular attention to inter-firm mobility of inventors. In the final chapter of this dissertation, in line with the spatial analysis of innovation in literature, we analyze the existence of spatial spillovers effect in the recruitment of graduates in S&I by companies for their R&D activities. We also seek to determine whether the human capital of scientists is more highly valued in the inner circle of the more efficient scientific clusters. Our hypothesis tests the consistence for extent putting into question the theory of spatial job search. Finally, we pay special attention to the return to scientific human capital within the competitiveness poles established by the French government in year 2005 modeled on North American scientific clusters.
Postdoctoral scholars may be economic complements or substitutes for faculty, doctoral research assistants and capital in the production of university life science research. Using data on 120 US universities, we present two cross-sectional (1993 and 2006) descriptive econometric models. Results suggest that postdocs serve primarily as complements to other labour inputs and capital. These relationships are potentially a source of concern to science policy makers because misperception and misallocation of complementary inputs is more costly than that of substitute inputs and may result in fragile and unstable systems. This instability is costly for individuals in the scientific workforce and poses a threat to the continued productivity and innovation of academic research.
This paper analyses the knowledge transfer process in technology centres (TCs) through the employment of PhD holders. In particular, a study of nine TCs located in four Spanish regions was essential to conclude that PhDs are not only involved in the acquisition of scientific knowledge but also in other stages of knowledge transfer (communication, application, acceptance or assimilation), as well as in business and commercial activities that require continuous exchanges with clients. Moreover, the introduction of academic culture into the organisation (a process known as 'collegialisation') and the promotion of a dual socialisation of PhDs in both the academic and industrial contexts constitute two enabling conditions that improve the quality of knowledge diffusion across organisations. As a result of these patterns, TCs are redefining their mission in regional innovation systems to adopt a more proactive position. Thus, they can anticipate the future demands of their potential clients.
Objective
This study examines extremely loyal fans of prominent American college sports teams. It seeks to find out how common they are and what their characteristics are.Methods
The study defines die-hard fans as those whose published obituaries both note this loyalty and mention the team name for a specific university. A sample of such fans associated with 26 universities is compared to individuals picked at random from obituaries from the same states. Other comparisons employ data on political-party registration.ResultsSuch fans are uncommon, making up only about 2 percent of adults whose obituaries are published. They tend to have been predominantly male and, compared to otherwise similar adults, had higher rates of college attendance, were more likely to be white, more likely to affiliate with mainline Protestant denominations but also more likely to have no religious affiliation, volunteered more often as coaches, and had a registered affiliation to some political party.Conclusion
As a group, they represent an important link between the “common man” and the bastions of intellectual activity that are America's research universities. As illustration, many more die-hard fans were linked to their universities by way of state residence than by attendance. And many of them had blue-collar occupations or never went to college.
The economic giants of Asia, India and China, encourage clusters of high technology companies to fuel their national economic development drives, but the paths of these neighbors follow divergent trajectories due to different interconnections between government policy and business strategy. Based on field research, economic data and targeted case studies, this article explores the impact of regional political agency, technology infrastructure (unconnected versus integrated), the central government (hands-off versus highly involved), private capital (large versus negligible), and foreign direct investment. The picture emerging from each countrys profile allows assessment of short and long-term change for these urban clusters.
The university sector, receiving government funding to perform basic research, is designated to produce and widely disseminate innovative knowledge to industry in many countries, particularly in latecomer countries such as Taiwan. Knowledge flows occurring in university research can be traced with patent data. This exploratory study aims to investigate knowledge creation and diffusion of Taiwan's universities by using university patents as the proxy. The empirical analysis finds a dramatic increase in the number of university patents after 2002. Some implications are derived based on this empirical analysis. Moreover, the cross-national citation behavior of university research would be worthwhile for conceptualizing transnational innovation networks in future studies.
ABSTRACT We examine the relationship between position in a network of relationshipsand organizational performance. Drawing on ten years of observations (1988-1997) for nearly 400 firms in the human biotechnology industry, we utilize three types of panel regressions to unravel the complex linkages between network structure, patenting, and various firm-level outcome,measures. Our results highlight the critical role of collaboration in determining the competitive advantage of individual biotech firms and in driving the evolution of the industry. We also find that there are decreasing returns to network experience and diversity, suggesting that there are limits to the learning that occurs through interorganizational networks. ,1
Previous research has indicated that investment in R&D by private firms and universities can lead to knowledge spillover, which can lead to exploitation from other third-party firms. If the ability of these third-party firms to acquire knowledge spillovers is influenced by their proximity to the knowledge source, then geographic clustering should be observable, especially in industries where access to knowledge spillovers is vital. The spatial distribution of innovation activity and the geographic concentration of production are examined, using three sources of economic knowledge: industry R&D, skilled labor, and the size of the pool of basic science for a specific industry. Results show that the propensity for innovative activity to cluster spatially is more attributable to the influence of knowledge spillovers and not merely the geographic concentration of production. (SFL)
The purpose of this paper is to link the propensity for innovative activity to cluster spatially to the stage of the industry life cycle. The theory of knowledge spillovers, based on the knowledge production function for innovative activity, suggests that geographic proximity matters most in industries where tacit knowledge plays an important role in the generation of innovative activity. According to the emerging literature on the industry life cycle, tacit knowledge plays the most important role during the early stages of the industry life cycle. Based on a data base that identifies innovative activity for individual states and specific industries in the United States, the empirical evidence suggests that the propensity for innovative activity to concentrate geographically is shaped by the stage of the industry life cycle. The generation of new economic knowledge tends to result in a greater propensity for innovative activity to cluster during the early stages of the industry life cycle, and to be more highly dispersed during the mature and declining stages of the life cycle, particularly after controlling for the extent to which the location of production is geographically concentrated.
The existence of geographically mediated "spillovers" from university research to commercial innovation is explored using state-level time-series data on corporate patents, corporate R&D, and university research. A significant effect of university research on corporate patents is found, particularly in the areas of drugs and medical technology, and electronics, optics, and nuclear technology. In addition, university research appears to have an indirect effect on local innovation by inducing industrial R&D spending. Copyright 1989 by American Economic Association.
It has long been recognized that advances in science contribute to economic growth. While it is one thing to argue that such a relationship exists, it is quite another to establish the extent to which knowledge spills over within and between sectors of the economy. Such a research agenda faces numerous challenges. Not only must one seek measures of inputs, but a measure of output is needed as well to estimate the knowledge production function. The identification of such a measure was a compelling goal for Zvi Griliches, if not the holy grail: “The dream of getting hold of an output indicator of inventive activity is one of the strong motivating forces for economic research in this area.” (Griliches 1990, p. 1669). Jaffe (1989) made a significant contribution to estimating the knowledge production function when he established a relationship between patent activity and R&D activity at the state level. Feldman and coauthors (1994a, 1994b) added considerably to this line of research, focusing on innovation counts as the dependent variable instead of patent counts. This work was particularly important given that many innovations are never patented. Feldman’s work also differentiated by firm size and showed that knowledge spillovers from universities play a key role as sources of knowledge for small firms.
In the last quarter century or so, a not-so-subtle shift in the justification for state expenditures on higher education has occurred. Once justified in terms of the need to produce an educated citizenry and as an avenue of upward mobility, now increased public spending for higher education is touted as promoting economic progress. These claims are more generally part of new approach to the justification of state expenditures. Elsewhere, we have referred to that approach as the theory of investment expenditures (Jones and Vedlitz 1988).
There has been no systematic study of the characteristics of the universities and academic researchers that seem to have contributed most to industrial innovation. Nor do we know how such academic research has been funded. This paper, based on data obtained from 66 firms in seven major manufacturing industries and from over 200 academic researchers, sheds new light on the sources, characteristics, and financing of academic research underlying industrial innovation. The findings should be of interest to economists concerned with technological change and to policy makers attempting to increase the economic payoff from the nation's academic research.
This is the thirty-third in a series of reports on research doctorates awarded by colleges and universities in the United States. The data presented in this report are from the annual Survey of Earned Doctorates, a census of research doctoral recipients who earned their degrees between July 1, 1998, and June 30, 1999. This survey, conducted since 1958, is sponsored by six federal agencies: the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Department of Education, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. All survey responses become part of the Doctorate Records File, a virtually complete database on research doctorate recipients from 1920 to 1999. The overall response rate for the 1999 survey was 91.7 percent. The report begins by reviewing overall trends in research doctorates awarded by U.S. universities and continues by discussing trends in the seven broad fields in which research doctorate recipients earn their degrees. Trends in doctorate awards by sex, race/ethnicity, citizenship, parental education, and time to degree are described next, and the report concludes with discussion of the sources of financial support during graduate school and the postgraduation status and plans of doctorate recipients. A special section is devoted to the interstate migration of U.S. doctorate recipients from birth to initial postgraduation location. The report includes numerous figures and tables. Appendices include additional statistics, technical notes, and the survey instrument. (EV)
In this paper, we use data from the Carnegie Mellon Survey on industrial R&D to evaluate for the U.S. manufacturing sector the influence of "public"(i.e., university and government R&D lab) research on industrial R&D, the role that public research plays in industrial R&D, and the pathways through which that effect is exercised. We find that public research is critical to industrial R&D in a small number of industries and importantly affects industrial R&D across much of the manufacturing sector. Contrary to the notion that university research largely generates new ideas for industrial R&D projects, the survey responses demonstrate that public research both suggests new R&D projects and contributes to the completion of existing projects in roughly equal measure overall. The results also indicate that the key channels through which university research impacts industrial R&D include published papers and reports, public conferences and meetings, informal information exchange, and consulting. We also finnd that, after controlling for industry, the influence of public research on industrial R&D is disproportionately greater for larger firms as well as start-ups.
Over the past decade there has been an intensification of interest in how universities can play a more effective role in promoting technical advance in American industry. However, very little of the current discussion is solidly based on an informed analysis of the roles that universities actually play today or the historical circumstances that caused universities to assume these roles.This paper offers an analysis, both historical and contemporary, that identifies the distinctive strengths, as well as limitations, of university research. Regarding the strengths, most of university research is basic research in the sense that it aims to understand phenomena at a relatively fundamental level. However, this does not mean that such research is uninfluenced by the pull of important technological problems and objectives. The lion's share of university research is in the engineering disciplines and applied sciences such as computer science and oncology which, by their nature, are oriented toward problem-solving. Despite its obvious usefulness, industry does very little of such basic research because the payoffs are of a long-run nature as well as difficult to appropriate. The vast bulk of industry R&D is focused directly on shorter term problem-solving, design and development. Universities are not particularly good at this sort of work. Industry is more effective in dealing with problems that are located close to the market place.This paper argues that new policies will need to respect this division of labor.
Using detailed data on California biotechnology, the authors find that the positive impact of research universities on nearby firms relates to identifiable market exchange between particular university star scientists and firms and not to generalized knowledge spillovers. Poisson and two-stage Beckman regressions indicate the number of star-firm collaborations powerfully predicts success: for an average firm, five articles coauthored by academic stars and the firm's scientists imply about five more products in development, 3.5 more products on the market, and 860 more employees. Stars collaborating with or employed by firms, or who patent, have significantly higher citation rates than pure academic stars. Copyright 1998 by Oxford University Press.
We examine the relationship between the intellectual capital of scientists making frontier discoveries, the presence of great university bioscience programs, the presence of venture capital firms, other economic variables, and the founding of U.S. biotechnology enterprises during 1976-1989. Using a linked cross-section/time- series panel data set, we find that the timing and location of the birth of biotech enterprises is determined primarily by intellectual capital measures, particularly the local number of highly productive 'star' scientists actively publishing genetic sequence discoveries. Great universities are likely to grow and recruit star scientists, but their effect is separable from the universities. When the intellectual capital measures are included in our poisson regressions, the number of venture capital firms in an area reduces the probability of foundings. At least early in the process, star scientists appear to be the scarce, immobile factors of production. Our focus on intellectual capital is related to knowledge spillovers, but in this case 'natural excludability' permits capture of supranormal returns by scientists. Given this reward structure technology transfer was vigorous without any special intermediating structures. We believe biotechnology may be prototypical of the birth patterns in other innovative industries.
The authors trace the origins of the key features of U.S. higher education today--the coexistence of small liberal arts colleges and large research universities; the substantial share of enrollment in the public sector; and varying levels of support provided by the states. These features began to materialize soon after 1890 when the 'knowledge industry' was subjected to 'technological shocks' that increased the value of research to industry and government and led to the proliferation of academic disciplines. The consequence was an increase in the scale and scope of institutions of higher education and a relative expansion of public-sector institutions.
Time and value are related concepts that influence human behaviour. Although classical topics in human thinking throughout the ages, few environmental economic non-market valuation studies have attempted to link the two concepts. Economists have estimated non-market environmental values in monetary terms for over 30 years. This history of valuation provides an opportunity to compare value estimates and how valuation techniques have changed over time. This research aims to compare value estimates of benefits of a protected natural area. In 1978, Nadgee Nature Reserve on the far south coast of New South Wales was the focus of the first application of the contingent valuation method in Australia. This research aims to replicate that study using both the original 1978 contingent valuation method questionnaire and sampling technique, as well as state of the art non-market valuation tools. This replication will provide insights into the extent and direction of changes in environmental values over time. It will also highlight the impact on value estimates of methodological evolution. These insights will help make allocating resources more efficient.
Unpublished manuscript
- J Groen
- M J White
What is the role of public universities in regional economic development
- M I Luger
- H A Goldstein
The economists’case for biomedical research: Academic scientist-entrepreneurs and commercial success in biotechnology
- L Zucker
- M Darby
Using human resource data to illuminate innovation and research utilization
- P Stephan