The Relocated University Affiliated Research Institute: A new organization form of university-industry links

This paper introduces a new organization form of university-industry links: the Relocated University Affiliated Research Institute (RUARI), which is established by parent university based in other region and supported by local government aiming to upgrade its local industries. Through RUARIs, the industries otherwise not local become “local”. However, this new localization effect is moderated by parent university characteristics. Through a multiple-case study approach of five RUARIs in Suzhou, China, we find that (1) parent university strategies, specifically resource backing and autonomy delegation strategy, influence RUARIs' capabilities, which in turn booster their performance. Further, it appears autonomy delegation strategy is more important than resource backing strategy; and (2) parent university's region of origin influences the motivations of RUARIs.