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Benchmarking university technology transfer performance with external research funding: a stochastic frontier analysis

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Abstract

Many universities engage in academic entrepreneurship, often with funding from external sources. Benchmarking technology transfer performance with external research funding can help universities identify and learn from peers that may possess strategic advantages in productivity. It also can be key for organizational learning and for communicating organizational performance to policy stakeholders and industry partners. In this study, we construct a unique dataset by linking two important data sources, AUTM and UMETRICS, and use stochastic frontier analysis to benchmark university licensing and revenue performance with different federal funding streams. Our empirical results suggest that universities looking to promote commercialization performance might look to National Science Foundation funding, and the universities best at production (i.e., licensing technologies and generating patents) with external funding are not necessarily the best at capturing benefits from generating revenue from entrepreneurial activity and launching start-ups. Our study points to the importance of the differential advantages of sources of federal research funding and offers implications for policy makers and university administrators.

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Data availability

UMETRICS Citation: The Institute for Research on Innovation & Science (IRIS). Summary Documentation for the IRIS UMETRICS 2019 Data Release. Ann Arbor, MI: IRIS [distributor], 2019–05-10, https://doi.org/10.21987/a07t-1c72. Association of University Technology Managers. (2016). AUTM, Association of University Technology Managers. Norwalk, CT:AUTM,

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Funding

This study was funded by the Institute for Research on Innovation and Science (IRIS) at the University of Michigan. Funding included access to the UMETRICS database.

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  1. School of Public and International Affairs, North Carolina State University, 2221 Hillsborough Street, 229 Caldwell Hall, Raleigh, NC, 27604, USA

    Jason Coupet

  2. School of Public and International Affairs, North Carolina State University, 2221 Hillsborough Street, 217 Caldwell Hall, Raleigh, NC, 27604, USA

    Yuhao Ba

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  1. Jason Coupet
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Correspondence to Jason Coupet.

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Coupet, J., Ba, Y. Benchmarking university technology transfer performance with external research funding: a stochastic frontier analysis. J Technol Transf 47, 605–620 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10961-021-09856-3

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