This study aims to provide some empirical material to examine roles of research by

universities and public research institutes (“the public research”) in national innovation

system. In particular, we analyze how outcomes of the public research can help firms’

performances like product innovation. Then, we focus on differences of firms’ attributes.

Recently, it is difficult for firms to research and develop (R&D) only in-house behind

global competition, short-term of product cycle, complexities of technology and so on.

Therefore, they have changed their R&D strategies to one introducing external

outcomes. Under this trend, universities and public research institutes attract firms’

attention as players of basic research with high risk that private firms cannot perform.

However, it is not necessarily shown how firms use outcomes of the public research for

business based on evidences or what such uses could do for firms’ performance.

Therefore, we empirically explain how firms use outcomes of the public research for

business and relations between such uses and the firms’ performance. We particularly

focus on differences among firms.

We obtained data through an original questionnaire survey we had delegated an

investigation company to carry out. Those surveyed comprised 20455 firms registered

as Internet monitors throughout the country and covering all industries. In this paper,

we used the data of 5123 firms of these firms (response rate was 25%).

In particular, we confirmed such statistic relations for Commercialization and Sales.

Moreover, we surprisingly found that there were not differences so much between big

firms and SMEs in results for Commercialization and Sales. This also holds true

between manufacturing and non-manufacturing. On the other hand, we statistically

confirmed some relations between ways to use the public research outcomes and terms

for commercialization. Then, we explicitly found differences between firm attributes, in

particular, manufacturing and non-manufacturing.