ABSTRACT
How universities can contribute to economic growth has become a topical question for academics as well as policymakers. Academic networks are a key channel for dissemination and diffusion of university knowledge and thus for technological progress. They are formal and informal channels/linkages among academic researchers for collaboration and knowledge acquisition/ dissemination (Arora et al. ( 2001 ); Bozeman et al. ( 2013 ); Coupé ( 2004 ); Dasgupta ( 1988 ); Goel ( 1999 ); Goel and Rich ( 2005 ); Goyal et al. ( 2006 ); Laband and Tollison ( 2000 ); Lam ( 2011 ); Nelson ( 1959 ); Rothaermel et al. ( 2007 ); Salter and Martin ( 2001 ); Skyrme ( 1999 ); Stephan ( 1996 )). Academic networks result from interactions among various actors and organizations such as university researchers, research groups, private or public firms, technology transfer offices (TTOs), university administrators, venture capitalists, other financiers, and diverse public sector participants. Universities and academic faculty have been and remain crucial generators of new knowledge, although other kinds of organizations such as firms and research institutes are also increasingly engaged in knowledge production and dissemination.
