摘要:This study is part of a large project aiming at the investigation of a) extent and b) economic
relevance of knowledge and technology transfer (KTT) between science institutions
(universities, universities of applied science and other public research institutions) and private
corporations. Under knowledge and technology transfer we understand very broadly any
activities targeted at transferring knowledge and technology that may help a company or a
research institution – depending on the direction of the transfer – to further promote its
activities. In this paper we report on the results of a large postal survey of Swiss enterprises
based on a questionnaire on the exchange of knowledge and technology with Swiss
universities and other research institutions. The survey was addressed to about 6000 firms
from all sectors of the economy (with exception of hotels/catering, retail trade, transportation
and personal services) and from different size classes. We received answers from 2582 firms,
i.e. 45.4% of the firms in the underlying sample. In this paper we undertake a characterisation
of KTT activities from a firm’s point of view:
- Which are the main characteristics of firms conducting KTT (e.g. size, industry, R&D
activities, R&D budget, research areas etc.)
- Which forms does KTT take (e.g. joint research projects, joint teaching courses,
allocation of thesis or doctoral projects in collaboration with firms etc.), what is the
relative importance of such forms?
- Which are the most important transfer channels (publications, patents, licenses, spin-
offs) and intermediating organisations (technology transfer offices, KTI, SNF etc.)?
- Which are the most relevant transfer partners among the universities and other
research institutions?
- Which are the most important motives for KTT activities (e.g. financial motives,
access to academic knowledge, institutional motives etc.)
- Which are the most important impediments of KTT activities (lack of information, lack
of conditions necessary for know-how transfer, costs and risks etc.)
关键词:knowledge and technology transfer, innovation activities, R&D actvities