Effects of knowledge spillovers on innovation and collaboration in science and technology parks

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine the effects of knowledge spillovers on innovation and collaboration among firms located in science and technology parks (STPs). To do so, whether knowledge spillovers imply a greater degree of innovation in its various forms – product, process, organisational and commercial – and greater inter‐organisational collaboration on research and development (R&D) is analysed. Explicitly, this article examines these effects by identifying and distinguishing between firms located on and off STPs. Design/methodology/approach – This paper adopts a quantitative approach. After reviewing the literature, the study tests the hypotheses empirically using a sample of 784 firms, and performing several logistic binomial regressions to analyse the impact of each type of knowledge spillover on each type of innovation and on the likelihood of firms establishing inter‐organisational collaborative R&D agreements. Findings – The results show that knowledge spillovers have a positive impact on firm propensity to innovate and on the probability of firms engaging in inter‐organisational R&D collaboration. Furthermore, firm location within an STP is found to influence the intensity of the effect of spillovers on innovation and on R&D cooperation. Thus, the magnitude of the effects of spillovers differs according to the type of the spillover. Originality/value – Given the special features of spillovers and the scarce evidence available analysing the relationship between spillovers, innovation and cooperation and the location on STPs, this work contributes significant empirical evidence to the existing literature.