Innovation performance in traditional industries: Does proximity to universities matter

Abstract

Firms operating in traditional industries are characterized by low investment in R&D and little capabilities for autonomous innovation. This situation is changing given the increasing relevance of general purpose technologies, such as ICT. As a result, the innovative performance of firms in these sectors should be more dependent on the interaction with firms and institutions outside their production chain. The aim of this paper is to analyze to what extent the proximity to universities affects firms' capability to innovate as opposed to the other characteristics of the local context, such as specialization or variety, which motivated firms' location choice. The analysis focuses on Italian firms in traditional industries: agri-food, textile and clothing, leather and footwear. The empirical evidence suggests that the local context still plays a relevant role for the innovative performance of traditional firms while proximity to a university is not always statistically significant.