Performance of technology transfer offices in Germany

Marcel Hülsbeck, Erik Lehmann () and Alexander Starnecker

The Journal of Technology Transfer, 2013, vol. 38, issue 3, 199-215

Abstract: The aim of this study is to empirically analyze the performance of technology transfer offices (TTO) in Germany. Although being one of the largest and innovative economies in the world, there is only scarce evidence about the role and performance of TTO in university–industry technology transfer. While policy makers and university managers are often quite optimistic about the impact of TTO in fostering technology transfer into the region, consulting firms and research institutes report such institutions in Germany as superfluous and counterproductive. Using the number of invention disclosures as a performance measure, we analyze how variance in performance can be explained by different organizational structures and variables of TTO. Controlling for regional endowment and university specific effects, our results reveal that TTO performance is mainly a function of the kind of labor division within the TTO and the research intensity of the university. Knowing the drivers of TTO performance may help policy makers and university managers to reflect their strategies, mitigate weak points and thus foster performance. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2013

Keywords: Technology transfer offices; Division of labor; University/industry technology transfer; Organization; Germany; D23; L38; O32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (29)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:kap:jtecht:v:38:y:2013:i:3:p:199-215

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DOI: 10.1007/s10961-011-9243-6

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The Journal of Technology Transfer is currently edited by Albert N. Link, Donald S. Siegel, Barry Bozeman and Simon Mosey

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