  This study on public-private research collaboration measures the variation
over time of the propensity of academics to collaborate with colleagues from
private companies. It also investigates the change in weights of the main
drivers underlying the academics' propensity to collaborate, and whether the
type profile of the collaborating academics changes. To do this, the study
applies an inferential model on a dataset of professors working in Italian
universities in consecutive periods, 2010-2013 and 2014-2017. The results,
obtained at overall and field levels, support the formulation of policies aimed
at fostering public-private research collaborations, and should be taken into
account in post-assessment of their effectiveness.
