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The impact of polytechnic institutes on the local economy

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Abstract

Higher education institutions and, particularly, polytechnic institutes in Portugal are, generally speaking, recognized as the key stakeholders in regional development. However, due to the economic recession of recent years and the consequent budget constraints, higher education institutions more than ever need to demonstrate the social and cultural impact of their activities within their communities and their contribution to its economic development. The aim of this paper is to estimate the economic impact of a group of polytechnic institutes located in regions with diverse socio-economic characteristics using a common methodology. This common framework enables a comparative study and a better identification of the variables that differentiate the different regions, the respective polytechnics and their impacts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. C3i, Instituto Politécnico de Portalegre, Portalegre, Portugal

    João Alves, Joaquim Mourato & Cristina Pereira

  2. Departamento de Ciências Saciais e de Gestão, Universidade Aberta, Lisbon, Portugal

    Luísa Carvalho

  3. CI&DETS — Centro de Estudos em Educação, Tecnologías e Saúde, Instituto Politécnico de Viseu, Viseu, Portugal

    Renato Carvalho

  4. Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo, Viana do Castelo, Portugal

    Florbela Correia

  5. Departamento de Produção e Sistemas, Universidade do Minho, Guimarães, Portugal

    Jorge Cunha

  6. Escola Superior de Tecnologia, Instituto Politécnico de Castelo Branca, Castelo Branca, Portugal

    Luís Farinha

  7. Escola Superior de Comunicção, Administração e Turismo, Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Bragança, Portugal

    Joana Fernandes

  8. Escola de Saúde, Instituto Politécnico de Viseu, Viseu, Portugal

    Manuela Ferreira

  9. CIPSE — Centro de Investigação em Políticas e Sistemas Educativos, Instituto Politécnico de Leiria, Leiria, Portugal

    Eugénio Lucas, Ana Nicolau & José Silva

  10. Escola Superior de Gestão, Instituto Politécnico de Castelo Branco, Castelo Branco, Portugal

    Sara Nunes

  11. Departamento de Economia e Gestão, Escola Superior de Ciências Empresariais, Instituto Politécnico de Setúbal, Setúbal, Portugal

    Sandra Nunes

  12. ICBAS — Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal

    Pedro Oliveira

  13. Instituto Politécnico de Setúbal, Unidade de Apoio à Inovação, I&D e Empreendedorismo, Setúbal, Portugal

    Sandra Pinto

Authors
  1. João Alves
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  2. Luísa Carvalho
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  3. Renato Carvalho
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  4. Florbela Correia
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  5. Jorge Cunha
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  6. Luís Farinha
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  7. Joana Fernandes
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  8. Manuela Ferreira
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  9. Eugénio Lucas
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  10. Joaquim Mourato
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  11. Ana Nicolau
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  12. Sara Nunes
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  13. Sandra Nunes
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  14. Pedro Oliveira
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  15. Cristina Pereira
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  16. Sandra Pinto
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  17. José Silva
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pedro Oliveira.

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Alves, J., Carvalho, L., Carvalho, R. et al. The impact of polytechnic institutes on the local economy. Tert Educ Manag 21, 81–98 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1080/13583883.2014.999110

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