Factors affecting the innovation ecosystem in public universities in Ethiopia

Abstract

Universities are now at the centre of the knowledge economy, and they do innovate, but Ethiopian universities have not done much of it. The overall goal of this paper is thus to investigate the innovative behaviour of Ethiopian public universities, with a particular focus on determining the driving forces of innovation and research output in Ethiopian public universities. The determinant factors of innovation activities were analyzed by using panel data analytical frames, with innovation and research output measured in patents and publications, respectively. The data were gathered from Ethiopian public universities between the years 2016 and 2020, with a sample of 24 universities chosen purposely. The result reveals that research output is affected by age of university, number of collaborations with international universities, research funding, number of PhD programmes, and number of research projects done. Innovation is also affected by the number of programmes and the number of MSc/MA staff. To improve research output and innovation in Ethiopian public universities, the study recommends increasing research budgets, strengthening collaboration with international universities, and expanding PhD programmes.

Keywords:

• innovation
• research output
• universities
• panel data

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.