Developing internationally comparable indicators for the commercialization of publicly-funded research
Anthony Arundel & Catalina Bordoy
#2008-075
It is a common perception that European public-funded research fails to
commercialize their discoveries, in contrast to the perceived success of
their American counterparts. This resulted in policies aimed at
improving the commercialization of European publicly-funded research,
including the establishment of Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs).
Recent surveys on the activities of these TTOs show that although
European public-funded research lags behind the United States in patent
applications and grants, they produce more start-ups, and have
comparable results for the number of licenses executed. Steps to improve
the international comparability of TTO surveys could provide useful new
indicators for policy development. However, this will also require
indicators for knowledge transfer through informal 'open science'
methods.
JEL Classification: O31, O32, O38
Keywords: Public R&D; Commericalization, Research Indicators, Open
Science; Europe
UNU-MERIT Working Papers
ISSN 1871-9872