Riobamba, Ecuador
The study analyses the impact of public universities on economic activity in sixteen provinces of Ecuador (2015 to 2020), using fixed and random effects panel data, whose selection was based on the Hausman test. The impact of the number of teachers, undergraduate and graduate student enrolment, number of scholarships, executed budget and number of careers (demand side), in addition to published research, number of polytechnic schools and supply of medicine (knowledge side) in each of the regions is evaluated. There is a direct relationship between the gross value added of production and the number of universities, careers, undergraduate students, and budget allocated. The number of published research papers was not statistically significant.