Gaining or losing PhDs: What are the effects on firms' linkages with universities?

PhD graduates can help companies transfer knowledge from universities to firms. Scholars have analysed the determinants of PhD recruitment by firms and its effects on their innovation activities. However, little is known about what happens when a firm loses employees with PhDs. The aim of this paper is to compare the effects on the relationships of firms with universities when these firms lose PhDs versus when they hire PhDs to work in R&D. These effects may be symmetrical or non-symmetrical depending on the abilities of firms to retain the connections and knowledge acquired by hiring PhDs. We consider four types of relationships: collaboration with universities, universities as a source of…