Üniversite-Sanayi İşbirlikleri Dışa Yönelik Yabancı Yatırımları Teşvik Ediyor mu? Eğitim Sisteminin Düzenleyici Etkisi

Year 2025, Volume: 15 Issue: 3, 525 - 536, 01.12.2025

Fatih Şahin

Abstract

Üniversiteler ve sanayii firmaları arasında geliştirilen işbirlikleri son yıllarda yenilikçilik ekosisteminin önemli bir göstergesi olarak ön plana çıkmaktadır. Ancak mevcut yazın üniversite-sanayii işbirliklerini ele alırken üniversitelerin genişleyen ve çeşitlenen misyonlarını göz ardı ederek yalnızca yenilikçiliğe etkilerine odaklanmaktadır. Bu çalışmada ise söz konusu kısıtlılığın ötesine geçerek üniversite-sanayii işbirliklerinin teknolojik ve yenilikçi kaynaklar konusunda dezavantajlı olan az gelişmiş ve gelişmekte olan ülkelerde dışa doğru doğrudan yabancı sermaye faaliyetleri üzerine etkilerini ve bu ilişkide üniversite-sanayii işbirliklerinin etkinliğini yönlendireceği düşünülen eğitim sisteminin kalitesinin düzenleyici rolünü ortaya çıkarmak amaçlanmaktadır. 80 az gelişmiş ve gelişmekte olan ülke örnekleminde gerçekleştirilen çalışmada 2013-2022 yıllarını kapsayan ikincil verilerden hareketle panel regresyon analizi uygulanmıştır. Bulgular, üniversite sanayii işbirliklerinin sınır ötesi yatırımları olumlu yönde etkilediğini, bu etkilerin ise eğitim sistemine yapılan harcamaların yüksek düzeyinde güçlenerek arttığını göstermektedir. Eğitim sistemine yapılan harcamaların düşük düzeylerinde ise söz konusu olumlu etkiler ortadan kalkmaktadır. Az gelişmiş ve gelişmekte olan ülkelerde dışa doğru yabancı yatırımların belirleyicilerine odaklanan yazına firmaya özgü kaynaklar dışında üniversitelerle kurulan işbirlikleri ve eğitim sisteminin önemini vurgulayarak teorik katkılar sunan bu çalışma aynı zamanda politika yapıcılar için çeşitli öneriler sunmaktadır.

Keywords

Üniversite-Sanayii İşbirlikleri , Eğitim Sisteminin Kalitesi , Dışa Dönük Doğrudan Yabancı Yatırımlar , Gelişmekte Olan Ülkeler

Do University-Industry Collaborations Promote Outward Foreign Direct Investments? The Moderating Effect of the Education System

Abstract

University-industry collaborations have gained increasing recognition as a key indicator of innovation ecosystems in recent years. However, existing literature often overlooks the expanding and diversifying roles of universities, focusing primarily on their impact on innovation. This study seeks to address this gap by exploring the effects of university-industry collaborations on outward foreign direct investment (FDI) activities in underdeveloped and developing countries, which face significant disadvantages in terms of technological and innovative resources. Additionally, it examines the regulatory role of the quality of the education system, which is believed to influence the effectiveness of these collaborations in fostering outward FDI. Using a sample of 80 underdeveloped and developing countries, panel regression analysis was conducted on secondary data covering the years 2013-2022. The findings reveal that university-industry collaborations positively influence cross-border investments, with these effects being stronger in countries with higher levels of education expenditures. These positive effects, however, disappear in contexts where education expenditures are low. This study makes important theoretical contributions to the literature on the determinants of outward FDI in underdeveloped and developing countries, highlighting the significance of university collaborations and the education system, in contrast to firm-specific resources. It also provides valuable policy recommendations for decision-makers in these countries.

Keywords

University-Industry Collaboration , Quality of Education System , Outward Foreign Direct Investment , Developing Countries

References

• Agrawal, A. K. (2001). University to industry knowledge transfer: Literature review and unanswered questions. International Journal of Management Reviews, 3(4), 285-302. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2370.00069
• Aiken, L. S., West, S. G., & Reno, R. R. (1991). Multiple regression: Testing and interpreting interactions. Sage.
• Audretsch, D. B., & Guenther, C. (2023). SME research: SMEs’ internationalization and collaborative innovation as two central topics in the field. Journal of Business Economics, 93(6), 1213-1229.
• Aw, B. Y., Roberts, M. J., & Winston, T. (2007). Export market participation, investments in R&D and worker training, and the evolution of firm productivity. World Economy, 30(1), 83-104. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9701.2007.00873.x
• Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator–mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51(6), 1173. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.51.6.1173
• Bell, A., Chetty, R., Jaravel, X., Petkova, N., & Van Reenen, J. (2019). Who becomes an inventor in America? The importance of exposure to innovation. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 134(2), 647-713. https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjy028
• Bertoletti, A., & Johnes, G. (2021). Efficiency in university-industry collaboration: An analysis of UK higher education institutions. Scientometrics, 126(9), 7679-7714.https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-021-04076-w
• Bercovitz, J., & Feldman, M. (2006). Entpreprenerial universities and technology transfer: A conceptual framework for understanding knowledge-based economic development. The Journal of Technology Transfer, 31, 175-188. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10961-005-5029-z
• Bianchi, N., & Giorcelli, M. (2020). Scientific education and innovation: From technical diplomas to university STEM degrees. Journal of the European Economic Association, 18(5), 2608-2646. https://doi.org/10.1093/jeea/jvz049
• Biasi, B., Deming, D. J., & Moser, P. (2021). Education and innovation (No. w28544). National Bureau of Economic Research.
• Bortoluzzi, G., Kadic-Maglajlic, S., Arslanagic-Kalajdzic, M., & Balboni, B. (2018). Innovativeness as a driver of the international expansion of developing markets’ firms: Evidence of curvilinear effects. International Marketing Review, 35(2), 215-235. https://doi.org/10.1108/IMR-11-2015-0258
• Buckley, P. J., Clegg, J., & Wang, C. (2002). The impact of inward FDI on the performance of Chinese manufacturing firms. Journal of International Business Studies, 33, 637-655. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230248328_12
• Buckley, P. J., Wang, C., & Clegg, J. (2007). The impact of foreign ownership, local ownership and industry characteristics on spillover benefits from foreign direct investment in China. International Business Review, 16(2), 142-158. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230248328_14
• Carayannis, E. G., Varblane, U., & Roolaht, T. (Eds.). (2011). Innovation systems in small catching-up economies: New perspectives on practice and policy (Vol. 15). Springer Science & Business Media.
• Cassiman, B., & Golovko, E. (2011). Innovation and internationalization through exports. Journal of International Business Studies, 42, 56-75. https://doi.org/10.1057/jibs.2010.36
• Cesinger, B., Hughes, M., Mensching, H., Bouncken, R., Fredrich, V., & Kraus, S. (2016). A socioemotional wealth perspective on how collaboration intensity, trust, and international market knowledge affect family firms’ multinationality. Journal of World Business, 51(4), 586-599. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2016.02.004
• Corsi, S., Feranita, F., Hughes, M., & Wilson, A. (2023). Universities as internationalization catalysts: Reversing roles in university–industry collaboration. British Journal of Management, 34(4), 1992-2014. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8551.12676
• Dorfman, N. S. (1983). Route 128: The development of a regional high technology economy. Research Policy, 12(6), 299-316.
• Dunning, J. H. (2001). The eclectic (OLI) paradigm of international production: past, present and future. International Journal of the Economics of Business, 8(2), 173-190. https://doi.org/10.1080/13571510110051441
• Duysters, G., Jacob, J., Lemmens, C., & Jintian, Y. (2009). Internationalization and technological catching up of emerging multinationals: a comparative case study of China’s Haier group. Industrial and Corporate Change, 18(2), 325-349. https://doi.org/10.1093/icc/dtp006
• Edeh, J. N., Obodoechi, D. N., & Ramos-Hidalgo, E. (2020). Effects of innovation strategies on export performance: New empirical evidence from developing market firms. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 158, 120167. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2020.120167
• Etzkowitz, H. (1998). The norms of entrepreneurial science: cognitive effects of the new university–industry linkages. Research Policy, 27(8), 823-833. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0048-7333(98)00093-6
• Fischer, B. B., Schaeffer, P. R., Vonortas, N. S., & Queiroz, S. (2018). Quality comes first: university-industry collaboration as a source of academic entrepreneurship in a developing country. The Journal of Technology Transfer, 43, 263-284. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10961-017-9568-x
• Fu, X., Hou, J., & Liu, X. (2018). Unpacking the relationship between outward direct investment and innovation performance: Evidence from Chinese firms. World Development, 102, 111-123. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2017.09.021
• Guimón, J. (2013). Promoting university-industry collaboration in developing countries. World Bank, 3, 12-48.
• Hall, B. H., Mairesse, J., & Mohnen, P. (2010). Measuring the returns to R&D. In B.H. Hall & N. Rosenberg (Eds.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation (2nd ed, pp. 1033-1082). North-Holland.
• Ilhan-Nas, T., Okan, T., Tatoglu, E., Demirbag, M., & Glaister, K. W. (2018). The effects of ownership concentration and institutional distance on the foreign entry ownership strategy of Turkish MNEs. Journal of Business Research, 93, 173-183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.02.006
• Ilhan-Nas, T., & Şahin, F. (2023). Cognitive background of vertical FDI spillovers: Awareness motivation cognitive capacity. Journal of Management and Economics Research, 21(2), 86-108. https://doi.org/10.11611/yead.1261129
• Ismail, M. D., Hamid, R. A., Senik, Z. C., Othman, A. S., & Juhdi, N. H. (2018). SMEs’ export performance: The effect of learning orientation and innovativeness. Jurnal Pengurusan (UKM Journal of Management), 54, 3-14.
• Landau, C., Karna, A., Richter, A., & Uhlenbruck, K. (2016). Institutional leverage capability: Creating and using institutional advantages for internationalization. Global Strategy Journal, 6(1), 50-68. https://doi.org/10.1002/gsj.1108
• Lee, Y. S. (2000). The sustainability of university-industry research collaboration: An empirical assessment. The Journal of Technology Transfer, 25(2), 111-133. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007895322042
• Levin, A., Lin, C. F., & Chu, C. S. J. (2002). Unit root tests in panel data: Asymptotic and finite-sample properties. Journal of Econometrics, 108(1), 1-24. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-4076(01)00098-7
• Leydesdorff, L., & Etzkowitz, H. (2003). Can ‘the public’ be considered as a fourth helix in university-industry-government relations? Report on the Fourth Triple Helix Conference, 2002. Science and Public Policy, 30(1), 55-61. https://doi.org/10.3152/147154303781780678
• Li, F., & Ding, D. (2017). The dual effects of home country institutions on the internationalization of private firms in emerging markets: Evidence from China. Multinational Business Review, 25(2), 128-149. https://doi.org/10.1108/MBR-04-2016-0014   Lilles, A., Rõigas, K., & Varblane, U. (2020). Comparative view of the EU regions by their potential of university-industry cooperation. Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 11, 174-192. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-018-0533-1
• Lu, J., Ma, X., Taksa, L., & Wang, Y. (2017). From LLL to IOL 3: Moving dragon multinationals research forward. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 34, 757-768.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-017-9542-z
• Luo, Y., & Tung, R. L. (2007). International expansion of emerging market enterprises: A springboard perspective. Journal of International Business Studies, 38, 481-498. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.jibs.8400275
• Marin, A., & Bell, M. (2006). Technology spillovers from foreign direct investment (FDI): The active role of MNC subsidiaries in Argentina in the 1990s. The Journal of Development Studies, 42(4), 678-697. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220380600682298
• Mathews, J. A. (2006). Dragon multinationals: New players in 21st century globalization. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 23, 5-27. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10490-006-6113-0
• Mehrbani, V. (2018). Educational levels and export performance of Iranian industries. Theoretical Economics Letters, 8(08), 1460-1474. 10.4236/tel.[phone].
• Mueller, P. (2006). Exploring the knowledge filter: How entrepreneurship and university–industry relationships drive economic growth. Research Policy, 35(10), 1499-1508. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2006.09.023
• Okan, T., İlhan-Nas, T., & Şahin, F. (2020). Gelişmekte olan ülkelerden kaçış temelli uluslararasılaşma: Kurumsal bir perspektif, Yönetim Araştırmaları Dergisi, 16(1-2), 54-86. https://hdl.handle.net/11727/13124
• Pereira, R., & Franco, M. (2022). Cooperation between universities and SMEs: A systematic literature review. Industry and Higher Education, 36(1), 37-50. https://doi.org/10.1177/0950422221995114
• Petruzzelli, A. M., & Murgia, G. (2020). University–Industry collaborations and international knowledge spillovers: A joint-patent investigation. The Journal of Technology Transfer, 45(4), 958-983. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10961-019-09723-2
• Qiao, P., Lv, M., & Zeng, Y. (2020). R&D intensity, domestic institutional environment, and SMEs’ OFDI in emerging markets. Management International Review, 60, 939-973. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11575-020-00432-9
• Ramamurti, R., & Singh, J. V. (2009). Emerging multinationals in emerging markets. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139681049
• Rask, M. (2014). Internationalization through business model innovation: In search of relevant design dimensions and elements. Journal of International Entrepreneurship, 12(2), 146-161. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10843-014-0127-3
• Rhoades, D. L., & Rechner, P. L. (2001). The role of ownership and corporate governance factors in international entry mode selection. The International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 9(4), 309-326. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb028938
• Schott, T., & Sedaghat, M. (2014). Innovation embedded in entrepreneurs’ networks and national educational systems. Small Business Economics, 43, 463-476. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-014-9546-8
• Siegel, D. S., Waldman, D. A., Atwater, L. E., & Link, A. N. (2003). Commercial knowledge transfers from universities to firms: improving the effectiveness of university–industry collaboration. The Journal of High Technology Management Research, 14(1), 111-133. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1047-8310(03)00007-5
• Şahin, F. (2022). Dikey yayılımların yerel kurumsal bağlamı: Türkiye otomotiv sanayii örneği [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Karadeniz Technical University.
• Tajeddin, M., & Carney, M. (2019). African business groups: How does group affiliation improve SMEs’ export intensity? Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 43(6), 1194-1222. https://doi.org/10.1177/1042258718779
• Takyi, L. N., Naidoo, V., & Dogbe, C. S. K. (2022). Government support, strategic alliance and internationalization: Evidence from indigenous Ghanaian exporters. Journal of International Entrepreneurship, 20(4), 619-638.
• Tatoğlu Yerdelen, F. (2018). Panel zaman serileri analizi Stata uygulamalı (2nd ed.). Beta Yayınları.
• Tijssen, R. J., & van Wijk, E. (1999). In search of the European Paradox: an international comparison of Europe’s scientific performance and knowledge flows in information and communication technologies research. Research Policy, 28(5), 519-543. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0048-7333(99)00011-6
• Van Beers, C., Berghäll, E., & Poot, T. (2008). R&D internationalization, R&D collaboration and public knowledge institutions in small economies: Evidence from Finland and the Netherlands. Research Policy, 37(2), 294-308. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2007.10.007