Putting Patents in Context:Exploring Knowledge Transfer from MIT
In this paper we explore the degree to which patents are representative of the magnitude, direction, and impact of the knowledge spilling out of the university by focusing on MIT, and in particular on the departments of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering. Drawing on both qualitative and quantit...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Working Paper |
| Language: | en_US |
| Published: |
2003
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/3957 |
| _version_ | 1811081053307142144 |
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| author | Agrawal, Ajay Henderson, Rebecca |
| author_facet | Agrawal, Ajay Henderson, Rebecca |
| author_sort | Agrawal, Ajay |
| collection | MIT |
| description | In this paper we explore the degree to which patents are representative of the magnitude,
direction, and impact of the knowledge spilling out of the university by focusing on MIT, and in particular on the departments of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering.
Drawing on both qualitative and quantitative data, we show that patenting is a minority
activity: a majority of the faculty in our sample never patent, and publication rates
far outstrip patenting rates. Most faculty members estimate that patents account for
less than 10% of the knowledge that transfers from their labs. Our results also suggest
that in two important ways patenting is not representative of the patterns of knowledge
generation and transfer from MIT: patent volume does not predict publication volume,
and those firms that cite MIT papers are in general not the same firms as those that
cite MIT patents. However, patent volume is positively correlated with paper citations,
suggesting that patent counts may be reasonable measures of research impact. We close
by speculating on the implications of our results for the difficult but important question
of whether, in this setting, patenting acts as a substitute or a complement to the process
of fundamental research. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T11:41:00Z |
| format | Working Paper |
| id | mit-1721.1/3957 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T11:41:00Z |
| publishDate | 2003 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/39572019-04-10T12:16:28Z Putting Patents in Context:Exploring Knowledge Transfer from MIT Agrawal, Ajay Henderson, Rebecca patents patenting MIT Mechanical and Electrical Engineering knowlege generation Knowledge transfer In this paper we explore the degree to which patents are representative of the magnitude, direction, and impact of the knowledge spilling out of the university by focusing on MIT, and in particular on the departments of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering. Drawing on both qualitative and quantitative data, we show that patenting is a minority activity: a majority of the faculty in our sample never patent, and publication rates far outstrip patenting rates. Most faculty members estimate that patents account for less than 10% of the knowledge that transfers from their labs. Our results also suggest that in two important ways patenting is not representative of the patterns of knowledge generation and transfer from MIT: patent volume does not predict publication volume, and those firms that cite MIT papers are in general not the same firms as those that cite MIT patents. However, patent volume is positively correlated with paper citations, suggesting that patent counts may be reasonable measures of research impact. We close by speculating on the implications of our results for the difficult but important question of whether, in this setting, patenting acts as a substitute or a complement to the process of fundamental research. MIT Center for Innovation in Product Development under NSF Cooperative Agreement Number EEC-9529140 and the Center for Knowledge-Based Enterprises at Queen’s University 2003-12-18T18:08:49Z 2003-12-18T18:08:49Z 2001-08-09 Working Paper http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/3957 en_US 203587 bytes application/pdf application/pdf |
| spellingShingle | patents patenting MIT Mechanical and Electrical Engineering knowlege generation Knowledge transfer Agrawal, Ajay Henderson, Rebecca Putting Patents in Context:Exploring Knowledge Transfer from MIT |
| title | Putting Patents in Context:Exploring Knowledge Transfer from MIT |
| title_full | Putting Patents in Context:Exploring Knowledge Transfer from MIT |
| title_fullStr | Putting Patents in Context:Exploring Knowledge Transfer from MIT |
| title_full_unstemmed | Putting Patents in Context:Exploring Knowledge Transfer from MIT |
| title_short | Putting Patents in Context:Exploring Knowledge Transfer from MIT |
| title_sort | putting patents in context exploring knowledge transfer from mit |
| topic | patents patenting MIT Mechanical and Electrical Engineering knowlege generation Knowledge transfer |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/3957 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT agrawalajay puttingpatentsincontextexploringknowledgetransferfrommit AT hendersonrebecca puttingpatentsincontextexploringknowledgetransferfrommit |