The Geographic Reach of Market and Non-Market Channels of Technology Transfer : Comparing Citations and Licenses of University Patents

Most literature on the economic contributions ofuniversity research has focused on the extent to which these contributions arelocalized; as a result, little has been written about the effects of distanceon the flow of knowledge through different channels.In reality,university-based research affects regional economic and innovative activitythrough two channels: knowledge spillovers and market-based channels such astechnology licensing or various types of employment relationships betweenacademic scientists and firms. Data (primarily internal records) from the technology transfer offices atColumbia University, Stanford University, and the University of California areused in a comparison of the localization of outflows of university researchthrough citations to university patents and through licenses that involve thesesame patents.These data reveal that knowledge flows taking place throughmarket transactions are more likely to be geographically localized than thosetaking place through non-market "spillovers."Exclusively licenseduniversity patents are particularly subject to the differential effects ofdistance on learning and citations.This finding may reflect other,unobserved differences between the characteristics of university inventionsthat are licensed exclusively and non-exclusively.(SAA)