Contributions of Research Collaboration to Innovation across Disciplines

Assessing the Entrepreneurial Role of Two Ghanaian Universities

Abstract

On the basis of debates in literature on the usefulness of research from different disciplines to innovation, this study sought to assess the extent to which research collaboration between university researchers and the carriers of innovation yield outputs that contribute to innovation. The paper analysed data from stratified sample of academics from the Sciences, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, the Social Sciences, and the Arts, in two Ghanaian universities with the mandate to contribute to research and innovation in Ghana. Out of 266 respondents, a minimum of 40 and a maximum of 108 multiple responses were recorded on the perceived use of collaborative research findings in various types of innovation and for problem-solving. Except for service innovation, Kruskal-Wallis tests of differences across disciplines did not reveal statistically significant differences, in the extent to which the academics perceived their collaborative research findings to have contributed to innovation. Thus, all academic disciplines can be relevant to innovation and should be given the necessary policy support.

https://doi.org/10.47963/jobed.2019.01