The Production of Academic Technological Knowledge: an Exploration at the Research Group Level

Manuel Acosta (), Daniel Coronado, Dolores León Mª and Pedro Jesús Moreno
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Manuel Acosta: University of Cádiz
Dolores León Mª: University of Cádiz
Pedro Jesús Moreno: University of Cádiz

Journal of the Knowledge Economy, 2020, vol. 11, issue 3, No 10, 1003-1025

Abstract: Abstract Public research institutions have a key role in a knowledge-based society as they lead scientific research and generate patentable technology directly applicable to industrial productive processes. In this paper, we address the latter role. Several well-known papers have dealt with the production of university patents at the level of universities and laboratories; however, despite the relevance of research groups in national research systems, their capacity as producers of patents has been neglected. In this paper, we fill this gap by testing the effect of previous collaborations and the scientific background of the group on the production of knowledge, measured by the number of patents. In the framework of a knowledge production function, we estimate several empirical count models with a sample of 1120 research groups affiliated to the three major public research institutions in Spain. Our findings suggest that the production of patents at the research group level is positively and significantly correlated with the variables capturing private collaboration and scientific background. The results also point to significant differences in the production of technological knowledge across institutions and areas of research.

Keywords: Collaboration; Knowledge production function; Patents; Research group (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C21 O31 O38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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DOI: 10.1007/s13132-019-0586-9

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