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Exchange and knowledge flows between large firms and research institutions
Rosalba Casas
Senior Researcher, Instituto de Investigaciones Sociales, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), México
Abstract
One aspect central to the study of the processes of network construction between academia and the productive sector is the knowledge that is exchanged and that makes up the base upon which improvements in products and/or processes are generated, new technologies are created, innovative activity is promoted, and/or new knowledge is produced.
The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the nature of the knowledge that is exchanged in the process of collaborations between academia and large Mexican firms. The analysis is constructed with a group of interactions that have as their objective the mobilization of scientific and/or technological knowledge for solving specific problems in the productive sector as well as for training and formation of adequate human resources for firm needs.
From the cases analysed, we arrive at diverse considerations with regard to the importance that the exchange and flows of knowledge has in the construction of networks between large firms and academia.
Keywords
academia-firm interaction, knowledge generation, knowledge transfer, networks
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