The Scientific Productivity of Academic Inventors: New Evidence From Italian Data

Stefano Breschi (), Francesco Lissoni and Fabio Montobbio

No 168, KITeS Working Papers from KITeS, Centre for Knowledge, Internationalization and Technology Studies, Universita' Bocconi, Milano, Italy

Abstract: We investigate the scientific productivity of Italian academic inventors, namely academic researchers designated as inventors on patent applications to the European Patent Office, 1978-1999. We use a new longitudinal data set comprising 299 academic inventors, and as many matching controls (non-patenting researchers). We enquire whether a trade-off between publishing and patenting, or a trade-off between basic and applied research exists, on the basis of the number and quality of publications. We find no trace of such a trade- off, and find instead a strong and positive relationship between patenting and publishing, even in basic science. Our results suggest however that it is not patenting per se that boosts scientific productivity, but the advantage derived from solid links with industry, as the strongest correlation between publishing and patenting activity is found when patents are owned by business partners, rather than individual scientists or their universities.

Keywords: Scientific productivity; Academic inventors; University patenting (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O31 O34 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 30 pages
Date: 2005-05, Revised 2005-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eec, nep-sog and nep-tid
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (21)

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Related works:
Journal Article: THE SCIENTIFIC PRODUCTIVITY OF ACADEMIC INVENTORS: NEW EVIDENCE FROM ITALIAN DATA (2007)
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