Scientific disclosure and commercialization mode selection for university technology transfer

Much previous research has explored university–industry technology transfer, but few researchers have examined the more comprehensive technology transfer process from faculty to firm. This paper focuses on faculty’s decisions on invention disclosure and selection of the mode of commercialization, and it aims to fill this gap through developing game models involving faculty, university, and firm. The results reveal a series of specific conditions for each commercialization mode, indicating that faculty’s share of licensing revenue and non-economic benefit have a positive impact on invention disclosure and the amount of effort expended by faculty, while increasing licensing price, decreasing the invention disclosure rate, and not necessarily increasing the investment by the firm. The empirical evidence supports our theory and renders a practical interpretation in the context of the 35 Chinese universities with the most patent applications. Finally, this paper provides new insights for faculty, university, and firm, as well as implications for policy-makers.