IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jtecht/v50y2025i2d10.1007_s10961-024-10112-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The determinants of European universities patenting and co-patenting with companies

Author

Listed:
  • Joanna Wolszczak-Derlacz

    (Gdańsk University of Technology)

Abstract

This study examines the determinants of European universities patenting and co-patenting with companies. The analysis takes into account more than 400 universities from 17 countries over the period 2011–2018. We test several determinants of the commercial activity of universities, such as: student enrolment (size), age, public or private nature of the institution, students per academic staff, publications per academic staff (research orientation), non-academic staff per academic staff, funding structure (core and third-party budget) and prior patent activity. We estimate two-part models with zero-inflated negative binomial/zero-inflated beta regressions, which estimate separately the impact of the determinant of patenting (count data/proportion of joint company-university patents) and the probability of no patenting. The results indicate that the main determinants of universities patenting and co-patenting with companies are: size, age, research orientation and funding structure. As for patents per se, the determinants of starting patenting are the same as continuing patenting, while for joint company-university patents, most of the determinants differently affect starting joint-patenting than increasing the proportion of co-patents with companies in all patents.

Suggested Citation

  • Joanna Wolszczak-Derlacz, 2025. "The determinants of European universities patenting and co-patenting with companies," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 50(2), pages 620-636, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:kap:jtecht:v:50:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s10961-024-10112-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s10961-024-10112-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10961-024-10112-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10961-024-10112-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Civera, Alice & Meoli, Michele & Vismara, Silvio, 2020. "Engagement of academics in university technology transfer: Opportunity and necessity academic entrepreneurship," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    2. Thomas Walter & Christoph Ihl & René Mauer & Malte Brettel, 2018. "Grace, gold, or glory? Exploring incentives for invention disclosure in the university context," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 43(6), pages 1725-1759, December.
    3. Maria Abreu & Vadim Grinevich, 2024. "The entrepreneurial university: strategies, processes, and competing goals," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 49(6), pages 1991-2034, December.
    4. Hans K. Hvide & Benjamin F. Jones, 2018. "University Innovation and the Professor's Privilege," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(7), pages 1860-1898, July.
    5. Mark Sellenthin, 2009. "Technology transfer offices and university patenting in Sweden and Germany," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 34(6), pages 603-620, December.
    6. Michele Meoli & Stefano Paleari & Silvio Vismara, 2013. "Completing the technology transfer process: M&As of science-based IPOs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 40(2), pages 227-248, February.
    7. Link, Albert N. & van Hasselt, Martijn, 2019. "On the transfer of technology from universities: The impact of the Bayh–Dole Act of 1980 on the institutionalization of university research," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 472-481.
    8. Joaquín Azagra-Caro & Nicolas Carayol & Patrick Llerena, 2006. "Patent Production at a European Research University: Exploratory Evidence at the Laboratory Level," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 31(2), pages 257-268, March.
    9. Henry Etzkowitz & Loet Leydesdorff, 1997. "Introduction to special issue on science policy dimensions of the Triple Helix of university-industry-government relations," Science and Public Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 24(1), pages 2-5, February.
    10. Mike Wright & Sue Birley & Simon Mosey, 2004. "Entrepreneurship and University Technology Transfer," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 29(3_4), pages 235-246, August.
    11. Crespi, Gustavo & D'Este, Pablo & Fontana, Roberto & Geuna, Aldo, 2011. "The impact of academic patenting on university research and its transfer," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 55-68, February.
    12. Frank T. Rothaermel & Shanti D. Agung & Lin Jiang, 2007. "University entrepreneurship: a taxonomy of the literature," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 16(4), pages 691-791, August.
    13. Michele Meoli & Stefano Paleari & Silvio Vismara, 2019. "The governance of universities and the establishment of academic spin-offs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 52(2), pages 485-504, February.
    14. Joaquín M. Azagra-Caro & Alfredo Yegros-Yegros & Fragiskos Archontakis, 2006. "What do university patent routes indicate at regional level?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 66(1), pages 219-230, January.
    15. Wolszczak-Derlacz, Joanna, 2017. "An evaluation and explanation of (in)efficiency in higher education institutions in Europe and the U.S. with the application of two-stage semi-parametric DEA," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(9), pages 1595-1605.
    16. Poh Kam Wong & Annette Singh, 2010. "University patenting activities and their link to the quantity and quality of scientific publications," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 83(1), pages 271-294, April.
    17. Acosta, Manuel & Coronado, Daniel & Martínez, M. Ángeles, 2012. "Spatial differences in the quality of university patenting: Do regions matter?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(4), pages 692-703.
    18. Nicola Baldini & Rosa Grimaldi & Maurizio Sobrero, 2007. "To patent or not to patent? A survey of Italian inventors on motivations, incentives, and obstacles to university patenting," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 70(2), pages 333-354, February.
    19. Joaquín M. Azagra-Caro & Fragiskos Archontakis & Alfredo Yegros-Yegros, 2007. "In which regions do universities patent and publish more?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 70(2), pages 251-266, February.
    20. Heike Grimm & Johannes Jaenicke, 2012. "What drives patenting and commerzialisation activity at East German universities? The role of new public policy, institutional environment and individual prior knowledge," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 37(4), pages 454-477, August.
    21. Joaquín Azagra-Caro, 2014. "Determinants of national patent ownership by public research organisations and universities," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 39(6), pages 898-914, December.
    22. Cornelia Lawson, 2013. "Academic patenting: the importance of industry support," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 38(4), pages 509-535, August.
    23. Heike Grimm & Johannes Jaenicke, 2015. "Testing the causal relationship between academic patenting and scientific publishing in Germany: Crowding-out or reinforcement?," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 40(3), pages 512-535, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Manuel Acosta & Daniel Coronado & M. Ángeles Martínez, 2018. "Does technological diversification spur university patenting?," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 43(1), pages 96-119, February.
    2. Heike Grimm & Johannes Jaenicke, 2015. "Testing the causal relationship between academic patenting and scientific publishing in Germany: Crowding-out or reinforcement?," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 40(3), pages 512-535, June.
    3. Andrea Bonaccorsi & Brigida Blasi & Carmela Anna Nappi & Sandra Romagnosi, 2022. "Quality of research as source and signal: revisiting the valorization process beyond substitution vs complementarity," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 47(2), pages 407-434, April.
    4. Alessandro Muscio & Fumi Kitagawa, 2025. "Heterogeneity in PhD entrepreneurship: strategic alignment of institutional, organisational, and individual factors," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 64(2), pages 489-510, February.
    5. Nabila Abid & James A Cunningham & José-Luis Perea-Vicente, 2024. "A thematic review of 45 years of The Journal of Technology Transfer," Post-Print hal-04980007, HAL.
    6. Manuel Acosta & Daniel Coronado & Mª Dolores León & Pedro Jesús Moreno, 2020. "The Production of Academic Technological Knowledge: an Exploration at the Research Group Level," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 11(3), pages 1003-1025, September.
    7. Joaquín Azagra-Caro, 2014. "Determinants of national patent ownership by public research organisations and universities," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 39(6), pages 898-914, December.
    8. Ruoying Zhou & Ning Baines, 2024. "To what extent do universities’ formal and informal knowledge exchange activities interact: evidence from UK HE-BCI survey," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 49(4), pages 1145-1175, August.
    9. Sabrina Backs & Markus Günther & Christian Stummer, 2019. "Stimulating academic patenting in a university ecosystem: an agent-based simulation approach," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 44(2), pages 434-461, April.
    10. Daniel Coronado & Esther Flores & M. Ángeles Martínez, 2017. "The role of regional economic specialization in the production of university-owned patents," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 59(2), pages 513-533, September.
    11. Supriya Munshaw & Soo-Hoon Lee & Phillip H. Phan & Kieren A. Marr, 2019. "The influence of human capital and perceived university support on patent applications of biomedical investigators," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 44(4), pages 1216-1235, August.
    12. Andrea Bonaccorsi & Luca Secondi & Enza Setteducati & Alessio Ancaiani, 2014. "Participation and commitment in third-party research funding: evidence from Italian Universities," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 39(2), pages 169-198, April.
    13. B. Urban & J. Chantson, 2019. "Academic entrepreneurship in South Africa: testing for entrepreneurial intentions," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 44(3), pages 948-980, June.
    14. Bijedić, Teita & Schröder, Christian & Werner, Arndt & Chen, Xiangyu, 2023. "How do working conditions, network relationships, and institutional support offers effect entrepreneurial intentions of German university scientists?," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    15. Charlotta Dahlborg & Danielle Lewensohn & Rickard Danell & Carl Johan Sundberg, 2017. "To invent and let others innovate: a framework of academic patent transfer modes," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 42(3), pages 538-563, June.
    16. Temel, Serdal & Dabić, Marina & Murat Ar, Ilker & Howells, Jeremy & Ali Mert, & Yesilay, Rustem Baris, 2021. "Exploring the relationship between university innovation intermediaries and patenting performance," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    17. Shuo Xu & Ling Li & Xin An, 2023. "Do academic inventors have diverse interests?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(2), pages 1023-1053, February.
    18. repec:wip:wpaper:4 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Aydemir, Nisa Yazici & Huang, Wan-Ling & Welch, Eric W., 2022. "Late-stage academic entrepreneurship: Explaining why academic scientists collaborate with industry to commercialize their patents," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    20. Pluvia Zuniga, 2011. "The State of Patenting at Research Institutions in Developing Countries: Policy Approaches and Practices," WIPO Economic Research Working Papers 04, World Intellectual Property Organization - Economics and Statistics Division, revised Dec 2011.
    21. Holgersson, Marcus & Aaboen, Lise, 2019. "A literature review of intellectual property management in technology transfer offices: From appropriation to utilization," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Universities; Patents; Joint company-university patents; Europe; Technology transfer;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I23 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Higher Education; Research Institutions
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jtecht:v:50:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s10961-024-10112-7. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.