Who is Selling the Ivory Tower? Sources of Growth in University Licensing

Jerry Thursby () and Marie Thursby

No 7718, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

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.

JEL-codes: D24 L31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2000-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eff, nep-ind and nep-ino
Note: PR
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (50)

Published as Thursby, Jerry G. and Marie C. Thursby. "Who Is Selling the Ivory Tower? Sources of Growth in University Licensing." Management Science 48, 1 Special Issue on University Entrepreneurship and Technology Transfer (Jan 2002): 90-104.

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