University-Industry Relations: Toward Innovation-Based Productivity

Abstract

Research centers are important in generating innovation in industrialized countries, where there is a solid public-private institutional framework, incentives for researchers, and business interest in funding R&D. In Chile and Latin America the reality is different. The university is disconnected from industry and research is funded mainly from public sources, which has complicated the protection of the economic results arising from R&D. This article proposes efforts to amend current legislation so as to favor the creation of companies (spin-offs) and to provide incentives that improve technology transfer from the university to the productive sector.