Science and technology parks and their heterogeneous effect on firm innovation

Abstract

Science and Technology Parks (STPs) have proliferated in many countries as an innovation policy tool. Previous studies have mostly used a homogeneous approach, leading to mixed results. This paper aims to explore whether there are factors which generate heterogeneous STP effects on the quality of patents filed by tenants. Creating a novel database of Spanish patents generated on- and off-park, merged with firm and STP characteristics, we find that younger and larger firms benefit more from being on-park and younger and older STPs generate a higher effect on tenants’ patent quality, while STPs promoted by universities exhibit a lower effect.