Beyond bricks and mortar boards: universities' role in building regional economies
Article
Universities have a substantial contribution to make to the local economy, acting on some of the key factors that drive growth: skills, investment and innovation. They are also major employers in the local economy, and play a key role in upskilling individuals and attracting talent.
At present, universities appear to have a small influence on private sector innovation in general, with a relatively small number of firms interacting with them to meet their innovation needs. However, those firms that do collaborate with universities do seem to show better performance.
There are, however, opportunities for universities to expand their economic growth contribution without committing to large amounts of additional expenditure. Indeed, in a time of economic uncertainty, as funding policy for universities changes, engagement with business could offer universities an opportunity to diversify their income streams while also contributing to economic growth.
This report makes recommendations to government, to the universities sector and to local enterprise partnerships to maximise development and growth opportunities for all parties. It also presents a framework for assessing the impact and priorities of clusters of universities with different roles and emphases: skills and knowledge creators, university towns, local developers, investment attractors, and local entrepreneurs.
Related items
Forging ahead: Deciding the direction of IPPR's Migration Policy Unit
In our last blog post for the Migration Policy Unit we shared our new way of working as we endeavour to be inclusive and transparent in our policymaking process. In this blog we set out what our first and flagship project is for the policy…Who gets a good deal? Revealing public attitudes to transport in Great Britain
Transport isn’t working. That’s the message from the British public. This is especially true if you’re on a low income, disabled or living in the countryside. The cost of living crisis has exposed the shortcomings of our transport system,…Bhargav Srinivasa Desikan on TalkTV discussing AI
IPPR's Bhargav Srinivasa Desikan on TalkTV discussing his new report on the impact of generative AI on the UK labour market.