The Role of Inter-university Cooperation in the Knowledge Society

Abstract

Inter-university cooperation is a source of economic growth and competitiveness in all knowledge societies. Our aim was to evaluate the scope, importance and applied forms of inter-university cooperation from the perspective of a small post-communist economy, the Czech Republic. This study is based on data obtained through a questionnaire survey among managers of higher education institutions (HEIs). The study shows that, with a few exceptions, all HEIs/faculties develop inter-university cooperation with workplaces from both the Czech Republic and abroad. More than half of the managers of HEIs/faculties consider this collaboration to be, at least, very significant. With all forms of cooperation, there is a higher percentage of their use by public and state HEIs in comparison to private HEIs. This cooperation plays a greater role from the point of view of HEIs/faculties of technical, scientific and medical specialization.