IT goes to school: Interactions between higher education institutions and information technology companies in United States metropolitan areas (Washington, Oregon, Illinois)

Higher education has been increasingly emphasized in economic growth and development. Colleges and universities are recognized as important contributors to industrial innovation, which is a key to economic growth and development. Many regional economic growth and development policies pursue closer links between higher education and private companies, based on the model of MIT in metropolitan Boston and Stanford University in Silicon Valley. However, critics question whether the importance of this relationship is overrated and point out negative effects of close relationships between higher education and private companies.; This research investigates relationships between higher education institutions and information technology (IT)-producing companies under different settings: diverse company strategies influenced by their size; colleges and universities of varying reputation; physical proximity; technological similarity; and regional institutional arrangements. Patent citation data are used to analyze the technological relevance between universities and IT-producing companies in 276 metropolitan areas in the U.S. The results show that the numbers of patent citations, aggregated by metropolitan areas, have a positive relationship with the size distribution of companies and universities' reputations, in each metropolitan area. Patent citation analyses indicate that physical proximity and technological similarity are not related to technological connection between universities and IT-producing companies. A survey and interviews examine characteristics and geographies of interactions between IT-producing companies and colleges and universities along four major routes of interaction: educated workforce supply, occupational training, research collaboration, and spin-off companies from colleges and universities. Three metropolitan areas are selected as case study regions: Seattle-Tacoma-Olympia, WA; Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA; and Champaign-Urbana, IL. The results from the survey and interviews provide detailed information on the interactions between IT-producing companies and colleges/universities.; This research provides examples of different interactions between higher education institutions and IT-producing companies that can help inform practitioners in the field of regional economic growth and development.