The literature on the economics of science and technology shows that academic universities—institutions focusing on basic research—positively affect innovation activities in regional economies. Less is known about the innovation effects of universities of applied sciences (UASs)—bachelor-granting three-year colleges teaching and conducting applied research. Furthermore, the evidence for positive innovation effects is predominantly based on average effects, while heterogeneity in innovation effects due to the economic environment is far less considered. By exploiting a public policy development in Switzerland that led to the quasi-random establishment of UASs, we investigate the regional heterogeneity in innovation effects of these UASs. We rely on patent and business census data and analyze the influence and importance of three economic preconditions—labor market size, labor market density and high tech intensity—on innovation effects of UASs. Our results show that only regions with a large or a dense enough labor market or with an above average high tech intensity experience significant innovation effects of UASs. Comparing the relative importance of the three economic preconditions, we find that labor market size is the most important factor that drives heterogeneity in innovation effects of UASs.

关于科学技术经济学的文献表明，学术型大学（专注于基础研究的机构）对区域经济中的创新活动产生积极影响。对应用科学大学（UAS）的创新效果知之甚少-授予学士学位的三年制大学教授和进行应用研究。此外，积极创新效应的证据主要基于平均效应，而经济环境造成的创新效应异质性则很少被考虑。通过利用瑞士导致UAS准随机建立的公共政策发展，我们研究了这些UAS的创新效应中的区域异质性。我们依靠专利和商业普查数据，分析了劳动力市场规模，劳动力市场密度和高科技强度这三个经济前提对无人机系统创新效果的影响和重要性。我们的结果表明，只有劳动力市场规模足够大或足够密集或者高科技强度高于平均水平的地区才会受到无人机系统的重大创新影响。比较这三个经济前提的相对重要性，我们发现劳动力市场规模是驱动UAS创新效果异质性的最重要因素。