The Role of Regional KnowledgeSources for Innovation -An Empirical Assessment

We investigate the contribution of different inputs, particularly different knowledge sources,on regional patenting output in the framework of a knowledge production function. Theknowledge sources included are R&D employment, size of public research institutions byfield of research (budget), amount of university external research funds from private firms,public departments, German Science Foundation (DFG), and from other sources. Thecontribution of these knowledge sources is tested systematically on the level of Germandistricts (Kreise) by including the respective information for the particular region and foradjacent regions. One main finding is that the quality of the university research makes somecontribution to regional innovation while the mere size of the universities is unimportant.Differences in the effect on innovative output can be found according to academic disciplinesand type of university......