University, Knowledge and Regional Development: Factors Affecting Knowledge Transfer in a Developing Region

ABSTRACT

The role of knowledge in the current knowledge economy cannot be overly emphasised. Successful regions are continuously being linked to excellence in the production, accumulation, and application of knowledge. Universities have increasingly been at the centre of such knowledge production, application and transfer. Yet, there is little research and evidence in this regard pertaining to less developed countries. The paper aims to fill this gap. The study uses the conceptual notion of knowledge transfer to interrogate the engagement level between the university and its region. Using a qualitative approach comprising the use of primary and secondary data, the authors capture some of the factors affecting knowledge transfer. Highlighting both supply-side and demand-side factors, the authors argue in favour of a nuanced and complex negotiation of the knowledge-development interface between universities as knowledge producers and regional stakeholders as knowledge users. Such negotiations should take cognisance of local realities.

Keywords:

• universities
• knowledge transfer
• regional development
• University of the Free State
• South Africa