ABSTRACTAN ANALYSIS OF TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER AT LAND GRANT UNIVERSITIES WITHIN THE NORTH CENTRAL REGION OF THE UNITED STATESByDaniel Patrick GoughTechnology transfer has become an increasing form of knowledge dissemination used by colleges and universities in the United States and around the world. Since the passage of the Bayh-Dole act in 1980, research institutions have used technology transfer to add value to research discoveries, bring knowledge into the market place, and as a tool to generate revenue for research, the technology transfer office, the inventor, the inventor’s unit, and for general administrative functions. As these institutions continue to increase their efforts to effect economic development through patents, licenses, start-ups, and other like agreements, it is important to understand what drives these outputs and how universities can more effectively transfer technology. This research gathered data to analyze the drivers of the technology transfer process among eleven public, land-grant, research universities located within the North Central region of the United States. We find that research disclosures from faculty inventors are a significant initial input into the technology transfer process. We also find that universities with more full-time employees dedicated to technology transfer are more likely to generate more licensing revenue and patents than those with fewer employees. Additionally, we find that revenue sharing policies have a negative, but quite small, impact on technology disclosures. In order to better understand what drives faculty to disclose research discoveries, more research needs to be done on the true impact of revenue sharing policies for faculty inventors.
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