The Failed Helix: Understanding Why University–Stakeholder Collaborations Collapse

The Triple Helix and Quadruple Helix frameworks have become dominant paradigms for understanding university–industry–government collaboration in regional innovation systems. The empirical literature focuses on successful collaborations while neglecting those that fail, dissolve, or never achieve operational status. This paper investigates why university–stakeholder collaborations fail and how breakdown unfolds. Drawing on institutional theory and inter-organisational collaboration research, we develop a framework distinguishing five failure forms: dissolution, zombie collaboration, stillbirth, fragmentation, and mission drift, mapped across three lifecycle stages. Through case studies of three failed collaborations in Finland, we demonstrate that structural vulnerability and institutional misalignment operate as latent conditions, while environmental shocks and relational erosion function as proximate triggers at critical junctures. We show that civil society inclusion in Quadruple Helix arrangements does not inherently produce equitable participation, representing a failure dynamic Triple Helix framework cannot anticipate. These findings advance theoretical understanding and offer practical implications for designing more resilient partnerships.