Universities play an important role in the knowledge-based economy and are expected to play an active role in technological change and innovation. However the role of universities in economic development is less understood than it is supposed. With the development of research universities, cities and regional economies become more critical, but not enough to develop regional economies (Bramwell and Wolfe, 2008). Today, higher education has become a competitive institution affected by costs, prices and subsidies, and everyone in society is affected by this situation ( Winston, 1999). Many universities start to be regarded as firms producing private and social benefits. The positive developments in special benefits also have direct and indirect effects on society (Psacharopoulos, 1982). The importance of research universities in developed and developing countries is increasing day by day. It is thought that research universities will become much more common and powerful in the future, which in turn will contribute to economic development ( Chirikov, 2013). There have been also many studies about research universities.(e.g Etzkowitz,2000&2013; Feldman& Desrochers,2003; Knobel, Simoes & Brito Cruzi, 2013; Teixeira, Rocha, Biscaia & Cardosa, 2012; Winston, 1999) The main aim of this article is to understand the changing structure of universities and their role in economic development. From here, the role and contribution of research universities to regional development will be examined in this paper. Additionally some research universities will also be covered by examples.

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