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We need to talk – or do we? Geographic distance and the commercialization of technologies from public research

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  • Buenstorf, Guido
  • Schacht, Alexander

Abstract

Using a new dataset with detailed geographic information about licensing activities of the German Max Planck Society, we analyze how the probability and magnitude of commercial success are affected by geographic distance between licensors and licensees. Our evidence suggests that proximity does not generally lead to superior commercialization outcomes. A significantly negative association between distance and commercialization success is identified only for foreign licensees within the subsample of inventions licensed to more than one firm. Positive associations between distance and performance indicators are not robust to controlling for invention quality or selection into licensing.

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  • Buenstorf, Guido & Schacht, Alexander, 2013. "We need to talk – or do we? Geographic distance and the commercialization of technologies from public research," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 465-480.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:respol:v:42:y:2013:i:2:p:465-480
    DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2012.06.010
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    7. Stefan Krabel & Alexander Schacht, 2014. "Follow the leader? How leadership behavior influences scientists' commercialization behavior (or not)," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(2), pages 134-160, March.
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    9. Lee, Yoo Hwan & Graff, Gregory D., 2016. "Academic Knowledge Spillovers and the Role of Geographic Proximity in Regional Agriculture-related Sectors: The impact of agricultural research at Colorado State University on the Colorado economy, an," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 235717, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    10. Chen, Guanghua & Yang, Guoliang & He, Feng & Chen, Kaihua, 2019. "Exploring the effect of political borders on university-industry collaborative research performance: Evidence from China’s Guangdong province," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 82, pages 58-69.
    11. Stefan Krabel & Alexander Schacht, 2012. "The Influence of Leadership on Academic Scientists' Propensity to Commercialize Research Findings," Jena Economics Research Papers 2012-027, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Academic inventions; Licensing; Spin-off entrepreneurship; Geographic distance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L24 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Contracting Out; Joint Ventures
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • O34 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital
    • R30 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - General

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