Anastasiia Samoilikova

Sumy State University,

Sumy, Ukraine

E-mail: a.samoilikova@biem.sumdu.edu.ua

ORCID 0000-0001-8639-5282

University-industry collaboration in R&D to reduce the informal economy and strengthen sustainable development

Mariusz Kuryłowicz

Academy of Justice, 

Warsaw, Poland

E-mail: mariusz.kurylowicz@aws.edu.pl

ORCID: 0000-0001-8995-6516

Serhiy Lyeonov

Sumy State University,

Sumy, Ukraine

E-mail: s.lieonov@uabs.sumdu.edu.ua

ORCID 0000-0001-5639-3008

László Vasa

Széchenyi István University 

Hungary 

E-mail: vasalaszlo@gmail.com 

ORCID 0000-0002-3805-0244

Abstract. University-industry collaboration in R&D has great potential as a partnership that promotes sustainable development. This article aims to confirm that university-industry collaboration in R&D contributes to reducing the size of informal economy and strengthening sustainable development. Correlation and causal analysis are applied to achieve this goal: Shapiro-Wilk test, Pearson’s and Spearman correlation methods, vector autoregression and Granger causality test are used on the basis of STATA software for a cross-country sample of 10 countries with the highest Sustainable Development Index over 2011-2018. Research results show that stronger university-industry R&D collaboration contributes to more robust sustainable development in 6 out of 10 sample countries and shrinking informal economy in 4 out of 10 countries. In turn, growth of the informal economy leads to a decrease in university-industry R&D collaboration in 5 out of 10 countries and inhibits sustainable development in 7 out of 10 countries. In conclusion, policymakers should transform the national policy and strategy to emphasize and strengthen R&D cooperation between the universities and the industry.

Received: December, 2022

1st Revision: March, 2023

Accepted: June, 2023

DOI: 10.14254/2071-789X.2023/16-3/18

JEL Classification: I23, O17, Q01

Keywords: business, education, informal sector, partnership, R&D cooperation, R&D investment, SDG