Transfer technology from University to firms and the role of the Technology Transfer Offices : how organizational context and available resources determine performance

Rui Cartaxo; Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão/Universidade Técnica de Lisboa (ISEG/UTL. Enroled in 2010; expected final date: 2013. The purpose of this paper is to assess the performance of the technology licensing offices (TLO) and technology transfer offices (TTO) which have been active in Portuguese higher education institutions. No such work has been done before for Portugal, and we assume that it might be relevant for other similar economies this analysis on how TLOs and TTOs perform in an economic context where high-tech and knowledge-intensive industries have not been dominant. In the process of universities? technology transfer to firms the Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs) are active intermediaries between the administrations of universities, teachers and business firms. We will discuss the performance of TLOs and TTOs in the light of both the institutional and resource based theories. The relevance of institutional factors related to the nature and structure of the academic organizations, such as the existence or not of a medical school, or the role of incentives for the university scientists to patent the outcome of their research, have been examined by different authors. In contrast, according to the resource based view, the TTO work is strongly affected by resource constraints such as finance and human capital availability. The data used in this paper stems from a survey conducted on request of the Technical University of Lisbon TTO in 2008 and refers to the period 2006-2008. The survey focused on two types of entities, the GAPIs (Offices for the Promotion of Industrial Property, which we will refer to as TLOs) and the OTICs (Technology and Knowledge Transfer Offices, which we will refer to as TTOs). Data stemming from a survey of these entities was analyzed in successive steps through factor analysis, cluster analysis and estimation of a model using the Partial-Least Squares methodology. The paper investigates two hypotheses. The first one is that the diversified institutional nature of the surveyed organizations (TLO, TTO and integrated structures TLO+TTO) implies different behaviours and outcomes. The second one is that the resources and activities in the surveyed organizations determine both their ? intermediate outcomes? (patent applications and technology transfer processes) and their ? final outcomes? (technology licensing contracts and technology-based spin-offs). A cluster analysis was conducted to test the first hypothesis. In line with institutional theory, the assumption was that the diverse nature of institutions determines different behaviors. This hypothesis was confirmed by the cluster analysis conducted. The second hypothesis, in line with resource based view, stated that the Outcomes were accounted for both i) the resources employed and ii) the activities pursued. The statistical analysis that was performed, and particularly the PLS estimation, point to the validity of a model in which the Outcomes depend on i) the Resources employed, ii) Patent applications, iii) Studies and iv) Activities. Key References Bercovitz, J., Feldmann, M. (2006). Entrepreneurial Universities and Technology Transfer: A Conceptual Framework for Understanding Knowledge-Based Economic Development. The Journal of Technology Transfer, 31(1), 175-188. Cervantes, M. (2003). Academic Patenting: How universities and public research organizations are using their intellectual property to boost research and spur innovative start-ups. http://www.wipo. int/sme/en/documents/academic_patenting. htm Lissoni, F. , Llerena, P., McKelvey, M. , Sanditov, B. (2008). Academic Patenting in Europe: New Evidence from the KEINS Database. Working Papers of BETA 2008-16, Bureau d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée, UDS, Strasbourg. Markman G.D. , Gianiodis P.T. , Phan P.H. , Balkin D.B. (2005). Innovation speed: Transferring university technology to market. Research Policy 34(7), 1058-1075. Siegel, D.S. , Waldman D. , Link, A. (2003). Assessing the impact of organizational practices on the relative productivity of university technology transfer offices: an exploratory study. Research Policy 32(1), 27-48. Thursby, J. G. , Thursby M. C. (2002) Who is selling the Ivory Tower? Sources of Growth in University Licensing. Management Science, 48(1), 90-104.