ABSTRACT
National policy in the US, as in Europe, emphasizes the role of universities as a driver of economic development. For example, the US Council on Competitiveness (1998, 14) states, ‘The nation that fosters an infrastructure of linkages among and between firms, universities and government gains competitive advantage through quicker information diffusion and product deployment.’ This chapter documents how the US system of higher education has evolved to become more integrated especially in science and technology (Noll 1998), and has a clear territorial focus at Federal and state level, while remaining characterized by institutional autonomy.
