University-industry relationships and spill-over effects in the West Midlands: the case of the ARLI collaborative research project

Mechanisms within and pathways towards university-industry relationships are necessarily highly diverse. The idea that knowledge created within university institutions and laboratories spills over as a natural and organic process and to the benefit of society as a whole or the region, in particular, have been discarded, e.g., in the knowledge spillover theory of entrepreneurship. There is no doubt that university-industry knowledge spillover occurs naturally. The best examples are graduates and post-graduates applying their training and knowledge gained during their studies in companies and institutions in the region, nationwide and internationally, either by secondments, internships or other recruitment processes. However, some research indicates that successful and bigger scale knowledge transfer, important for economic performance and growth, needs to be supported, nurtured and heavily invested in by both the universities themselves and public and private organisations.