A study on the dynamics of government-university-industry knowledge transfer in emerging knowledge-based economies

Abstract This article is drawn from a more extensive study on the dynamics of government-university-industry knowledge transfer in an emerging knowledge-based economy (KBE). Pragmatism was used as the fundamental philosophical tenet for this research, as the grounded theory approach was applied to identify the barriers and challenges that hinder the progress of universities consequently offering pragmatic solutions. Participants were selected using theoretical sampling technique who responded to questions addressing the performance of key entities in the triple helix framework of Pakistan. The dominant themes that emerged after data saturation included (1) perception of a KBE, (2) building knowledge-transfer channels, (3) efficiency of knowledge-transfer activities, and (4) knowledge co-creation spaces. These domains aided in developing a model for building sustainable knowledge co-creation spaces, with implications for policymakers to facilitate higher education institutions in improving their performance in the triple helix framework of developing countries.