This paper studies how innovation by Italian firms is affected by their cooperation with universities, distinguishing between pure innovation (i.e. either technological or organizational) and joint innovation (i.e. both technological and organizational). The analysis draws on data from the Bank of Italy's Survey of Industrial and Service Firms carried out in 2007 and 2010.
The findings show that cooperation between universities and firms encourages the latter to pursue joint innovation projects entailing both technological and organizational changes. This form of innovation is recognized by the literature as being the most effective in transforming new ideas and business opportunities into market success. Firms that do not cooperate with universities, instead, tend to introduce purely technological innovations.
