Connecting Minds Creating Innovation : Matchmaking between Business and Science in Croatia

Overview & Synopsis

Innovation and economic growth are expected to go hand-in-hand and to be driven by close business-science collaboration to transform research into innovation, competitiveness, and productivity. Yet, while the theory is clear, often businesses and scientists do not collaborate, due to information frictions, behavioral biases, high/uncertain transaction costs, and financial constraints. In Croatia, collaboration often occurs within the same university network and through personal contacts, but ideas and collaborations–especially in rapidly developing fields such as AI and Energy Efficiency and Sustainability–may require external support. The study applies a randomized experiment to evaluate the impacts of business-science matchmaking support in research and development (R&D) collaboration, actively helping to establish new linkages. The study finds that firms offered support in business-science collaboration are more likely to start new collaborations with Croatian scientists, to commercialize new or improved products, and to introduce new or improved processes.