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An unanticipated consequence from the U.S. Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program is the propensity of U.S. firms to sell their SBIR-funded and developed technology rights to foreign entities. While such sales are factually documented in reports from both the U.S. National Academies and from the Department of Defense, the U.S. Congress has only recently shown concern about such activity. Using project-level data, we document the extent of foreign sales of technology rights. We also highlight the role of foreign development funding during the commercialization phase. Our statistical analysis finds a positive association between the probability of selling technology rights to foreign firms or investors and the receipt of foreign development funding. This finding might be a bellwether to the U.S. Congress and to other countries that have adopted programs that mirror the U.S. program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study the technology transfer mechanisms used to protect intellectual property by small, entrepreneurial firms that received Phase II research awards from the US Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. The technology transfer mechanisms considered are patenting and publishing. Controlling for the agencies that funded the Phase II research (DOD and NIH), we find that the presence of a university as a research partner engenders greater patenting and publishing. We also find that minority-owned firms patent more intensely than do other firms. A portion of the firms patent and publish; we define these firms, based on our advanced review of the literature, to be ambidextrous. Ambidextrous firms are more likely to include a university as a research partner, to be male-owned and minority-owned, and to be relatively small. Our findings represent a new and important advancement to the literature. Plain English Summary: This paper considers the technology transfer activity of small, entrepreneurial firms that are conducting research funded by the US Small Business Innovation Research program. Patenting and publishing are the technology transfer mechanisms used to protect firms' intellectual property from the funded research. We show that firms use these mechanisms more often when a university is a research partner. Larger firms do not appear to be more active in patenting or publishing than smaller firms, although smaller firms tend to use both mechanisms. Also, minority-owned firms patent more. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) is the fourth largest institute in the US National Institutes of Health (NIH). Surprisingly, there is a conspicuous void of policy studies related to the research activities of NHLBI in comparison to NIH or the National Cancer Institute. This paper investigates the likelihood that a business funded through NHLBI's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program will commercialize from its Phase IIB translational support. Commercialization is one performance metric that quantifies a policy dimension of the success of the funded SBIR project. Based on an empirical analysis of sixty-one Phase IIB projects, we find that the most significant covariate with the likelihood of commercialization is the growth in human capital within the business since the Phase IIB award. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This document announces a special issue of the journal "Economics of Innovation & New Technology" focused on the connection between homophilic relationships and innovative behavior. The purpose of the special issue is to expand the empirical literature on this topic and explore the relationship between homophilic relationships and various dimensions of innovative behavior. The document encourages authors to submit abstracts that address research questions, explain the importance of the research to the innovation literature, describe the data and measurement of homophilic relationships and innovative behavior, and provide interpretations of the findings. The deadline for abstract submission is October 1, 2024. [Extracted from the article]