Channels, benefits and risks of public–private interactions for knowledge transfer: conceptual framework inspired by Latin America

There are both benefits and risks involved in interactions between public research organisations (PROs) and industry. This paper proposes a conceptual framework that associates firms' and PROs' motivations, channels of interaction and benefits. It suggests that each channel triggers predominant types of benefits and claims that policy-making to support PRO—industry (PRO-I) interactions should be selective. Policy design must take into consideration the skill-related characteristics of the actors, and the characteristics of the interaction channels in order to achieve the best possible balance between the benefits and risks of PRO-I interactions. The geographical focus of the discussion is Latin America.