| Abstract: |
In this paper, we study the influence that academic patenting has on faculty
members belonging to a research intensive Japanese uni- versity. We intend to
contribute to the literature on both the use of patenting in academia and the
influence it has on a researcher’s agenda setting. First, we document how
recent policy changes have favored an increasing use of patents by faculty
members in Japan. Then, us- ing two complementary set of data, cross-section
and panel data, we focus our attention on three main dimensions: the effect of
patenting on academic productivity measured in terms of publications and their
quality; the role of financial factors; and the influence of peer effects. Our
main findings are the following. First, we find that patenting and publishing
were complementary activities in our two empirical settings. Moreover, we find
that the output of colleagues working in the same department influences a
researcher propensity to patent. The results show as well that the amount of
contractual research funds received by a researcher is positively correlated
with his/her number of patents, while the number of research grants - not the
amount - is correlated to his/her patenting output. Finally, another
interesting result concerns the influence of a researcher’s age on his/her
propensity to patent. |