Working Paper: NBER ID: w7718
Authors: Jerry G. Thursby; Marie C. Thursby
Abstract: Historically, commercial use of university research has been viewed in terms of spillovers. Recently, there has been a dramatic increase in technology transfer through licensing as universities attempt to appropriate the returns from faculty research. This change has prompted concerns regarding the source of this growth - specifically, whether it suggests a change in the nature of university research. We develop an intermediate input model to examine the extent to which the growth in licensing is due to the productivity observable inputs or driven by a change in the propensity of faculty and administrators to engage in commercializing university research. We model licensing as a three stage process, each involving multiple inputs. Nonparametric programming techniques are applied to survey data from 65 universities to calculate total factor productivity (TFP) growth in each state. To examine the sources of TFP growth, the productivity analysis is augmented by survey evidence from business who license-in university inventions. Results suggest that increased licensing is due primarily to an increased willingness of faculty and administrators to license and increased business reliance on external R&D rather than a shift in faculty research.
Keywords: university licensing; technology transfer; commercialization; Bayh-Dole Act
JEL Codes: D24; L31; O31; O32
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| increase in licensing activity (D45) | greater willingness of faculty and administrators to engage in licensing (L24) |
| growth in invention disclosures (O39) | increased propensity for faculty to disclose inventions (O31) |
| propensity of businesses to rely on university research (O36) | shift in industry behavior toward external R&D (O36) |
| negative total factor productivity (TFP) growth in licenses executed (O49) | universities may be licensing inventions of marginal commercial potential (L24) |
| input growth (O49) | growth in disclosures and patents (O34) |
| growth in disclosures and patents (O34) | universities catching up to best practices (I23) |