Academic Venturing in Higher Education: Institutional Effects on Performance of University Technology Transfer. ASHE Annual Meeting Paper.

This study investigated institutional resource factors that may explain differential performance with university technology transfer--the process by which university research is transformed into marketable products. Using multi-source data on 108 research universities, a set of internal resources (financial, physical, human capital, and organizational) and external influences were found to be significant predictors of one or more of three technology transfer performance outcomes (patenting, licensing, and income generation from licenses). Findings included: (1) federal and industry R&D support are important contributors to patenting activity but not to licensing or income generation from licenses; (2) having a medical or engineering school was not a significant predictor of technology transfer success; (3) the quality of an institution's faculty is a critical resource associated with patenting, licensing, and licensing income; (4) there was no difference between public and private schools in technology transfer; and (5) there was a strongly negative relationship between the venture capitalization of a state and the number of licenses and licensing income, and between state support for higher education and licensing income for public institutions. (Contains 59 references.) (EV)