Governance of university industry research and development collaboration for innovation in transition economies

University–industry collaboration (UIC) in research and development (R&D) is increasingly recognized as a critical driver of innovation, competitiveness, and sustainable development. Yet, in transition economies shaped by post-conflict or authoritarian legacies, such collaboration often remains fragmented, weakly institutionalized, and constrained by limited trust and governance capacity. Focusing on Kosovo and Albania as illustrative contexts for countries with transition economies, this study examines how governance conditions shape the development and sustainability of university–industry R&D collaboration and identifies the institutional factors that distinguish transitional settings from more established innovation systems. Drawing on a structured review of 57 peer-reviewed studies and integrating insights from the Triple Helix Model, National Innovation Systems, and Governance Theory, the study finds that the effectiveness of UIC in transitional economies depends not simply on the presence of universities, firms, and public institutions, but on the quality of the governance relationships connecting them. The evidence identifies weak institutional coordination, fragmented policy frameworks, limited mutual trust, insufficient university autonomy and research capacity, misaligned academic and industrial incentives, and historically embedded institutional legacies as mutually reinforcing barriers to sustained R&D collaboration. These constraints limit the capacity of conventional university–industry collaboration models to explain or support innovation in post-conflict and post-authoritarian environments. Conceptually, the paper advances a context-sensitive collaborative governance perspective on UIC, arguing that governance in transitional economies should be understood as a dynamic process of institutional coordination, trust-building, policy alignment, and progressive consolidation of relationships among universities, industry, and government. Rather than assuming mature innovation institutions as a starting condition, the proposed perspective recognizes institutional fragility and historical legacies as integral dimensions of the collaboration process. It therefore extends established Triple Helix and innovation-system approaches by foregrounding the governance mechanisms required for university–industry relationships to emerge, stabilize, and generate sustainable R&D outcomes in transitional contexts. The study contributes to the literature by connecting previously fragmented insights on institutional governance, innovation systems, and university–industry relations and by establishing a conceptual foundation for future empirical investigation in Kosovo, Albania, and comparable transition economies. It also provides practical implications for policymakers, universities, and industry stakeholders seeking to strengthen innovation ecosystems through more coherent policies, trust-based partnerships, institutional capacity-building, and better alignment of academic and industrial priorities. In doing so, the study positions well-governed university–industry R&D collaboration as an important mechanism for advancing SDGs 4, 8, 9, and 17 and supporting innovation-led sustainable development.