TY - JOUR

T1 - Higher education funding reform and university-industry links in developing countries

T2 - The case of Thailand

AU - Schiller, Daniel

AU - Liefner, Ingo

N1 - Funding Information: In the last 5 years, technology and higher education policy have acknowledged this weakness. The National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) has set up the first science park in Thailand and 12 universities have established business incubator units supported by the Commission on Higher Education (CHE). Another important measure is to raise awareness of university research in Thai society and the industry sector. The empirical research for this project was funded by the German Research Association (DFG) and carried out at the Department of Economic Geography, University of Hannover, Germany. It is based on interviews with professors and administrators at five universities in Thailand. Three of them are located in Bangkok, Chulalongkorn University (CU), Kasetsart University (KU), and King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT). Two of them are regional universities, Chiang Mai University (CMU), and Khon Kaen University (KKU). The universities selected for the case studies are regarded as outstanding in science and technology research and teaching on a national level. They are therefore expected to possess the highest potential for research commercialisation. Moreover, institutional frameworks and scientific specialisations differ markedly amongst them, allowing for analyses of their influence on commercialisation behaviour.Acknowledgements The empirical research for this article was funded by a grant from the German Research Association (DFG-Gz. LI 981/1-1). The authors thank the interviewees and administrators at Thai universities for their cooperation. Useful comments of two anonymous reviewers are acknowledged.

PY - 2006/6/3

Y1 - 2006/6/3

N2 - Most investigations into the effects of funding changes on higher education systems have been carried out in developed economies. This article focuses on the Thai higher education system, applying theoretical arguments and empirical analyses to the case of a newly industrialising country. One goal of the Thai higher education funding reform is to cut public spending and to stimulate university-industry cooperation as a means to obtain additional university income. This article presents empirical data based on an investigation into the cooperation activities of five Thai universities. The results show that both individuals and organisations react to changes in university funding: university-industry relations are becoming more frequent and are promoted by university administrations. The financial benefits for the universities as well as the technological benefits for the cooperating companies are, however, both very limited.

AB - Most investigations into the effects of funding changes on higher education systems have been carried out in developed economies. This article focuses on the Thai higher education system, applying theoretical arguments and empirical analyses to the case of a newly industrialising country. One goal of the Thai higher education funding reform is to cut public spending and to stimulate university-industry cooperation as a means to obtain additional university income. This article presents empirical data based on an investigation into the cooperation activities of five Thai universities. The results show that both individuals and organisations react to changes in university funding: university-industry relations are becoming more frequent and are promoted by university administrations. The financial benefits for the universities as well as the technological benefits for the cooperating companies are, however, both very limited.

KW - Commercialisation

KW - Developing countries

KW - Funding reform

KW - Resource allocation

KW - Thailand

KW - University-industry links

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=34548435605&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1007/s10734-006-9011-y

DO - 10.1007/s10734-006-9011-y

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:34548435605

VL - 54

SP - 543

EP - 556

JO - Higher education

JF - Higher education

SN - 0018-1560

IS - 4

ER -