University Technology Transfer: How (in-)efficient are French universities?

This paper presents the first assessment of the efficiency of the technology transfer operated by the French university system and its main determinants. The analysis is based on a detailed and original database of 51 TTOs, categorized by type of university they belong to, over the period 2003-2007. Overall, we find a low level of efficiency and both intra-category and inter-categories efficiency variation. The analysis of determinants showed that French TTOs efficiency depends extensively on the nature of the category (with universities specialised in science and engineering being the most efficient ones), on institutional and environmental characteristics. We found that both the seniority of TTO and size of the university have a positive effect. In terms of environmental variables, the intensity of R&D activity (both private and public) has a positive impact; however, in terms of growth rate, only the Private R&D activity seems to be the main driver. Lastly, we find that the presence of a university-related hospital is detrimental for the efficiency. An extended discussion of the results within the existing literature is also offered.