The impact of cluster policy on academic knowledge creation and regional innovation: geography of university–industry collaboration in Japan

This article investigates the geography and additionality of university–industry collaboration by evaluating unique ‘university-centred’ cluster programmes in Japan. Utilising micro-data from official statistics and databases of publications and patents, we empirically compare the effects of cluster policy on academia and industry by employing fixed effect panel linear regression. Academic participants significantly increased the share of patents in science and technology output, suggesting a shift of research orientation towards more applied research and development. Academic participants located inside the local cluster areas significantly increased their patent applications, while firms’ location does not matter for science and technology output.