Search

Research centres and knowledge hubs impact on the economy of the region in which they are located is twofold: direct and indirect. On the one hand, they can link technological and business knowledge with financing sources and market networks. On the other hand, the new and innovative research results might also have an impact on the regional economic players not directly involved in the cooperation (e.g. can be the base of new clusters) or lead to further development of new services and better infrastructure in the region (Lengyel, 2012b, p. 109). Experts regard the utilized R&D activity of knowledge centres as a major source of knowledge-based regional development (coupled, of course, with available innovation policy support and incentives) (Valance et al., 2017). Thus, the potential regional economic impact of universities/ colleges and knowledge centres is unquestionable. Whether and to what extent this can be translated into practice should be the subject of investigation. The subject of present article is the spatial manifestation of knowledge and technology transfer in Hungary. The time dimension of the study is provided by the Innovation Act of 2004, which laid the foundations of the current Hungarian innovation system. The territorial dimension is the county level. The county selected for the study (county Fejér) is averagely developed on the base of R&D expenditures relative to GDP, and is an industrialized region concerning the number and profile of registered enterprises. According to the research hypothesis, higher education institutions and other research centres typically intend to cooperate with local or regional economic players in rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]