Presented at the GLOBELICS 6th International Conference 2008 22-24 September, Mexico City, Mexico.Universities are a critical actor in innovation systems of both developed and developing
countries. In the context of developing countries, universities can play an important role
as an indigenous knowledge source. Fruitful university- industry linkages (UILs) help
local firms to import, modify, and diffuse technology. At the same time, universities
can improve their academic capabilities if they interact with the private sector.
However, appropriate explanations of UILs in developing countries are still lacking.
It is the aim of this paper to identify successes and failures of UILs in Thailand by
combining data from company and university surveys. In general, UILs in Thailand are
still weak. But determinants for successful projects have been identified which offer the
potential to serve as guidelines to improve UILs in the future. The findings of the paper
contribute to the debate on the extended role of universities in developing countries for
technological change and economic development
