Patents and university strategies in the prestige economy

Barrett J. Taylor, Kelly O. Rosinger, Sheila Slaughter

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapter

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

Research universities in the US exist in a “prestige economy,” meaning a field that is stratified both by status and by financial resources. University patenting, which promises revenues through the commodification of research discoveries and also signals status, offers a useful lens through which to understand the prestige economy. Analyses of patenting behavior by US research universities from 1988 to 2004 indicate that public university patenting was predicted by industry funding early in the sample period, but came to be predicted by federal and institutional contributions to research. This suggests that public universities may patent because they are expected to do so – that is, as indicators of status – rather than because patents are associated with revenues. Private universities, by contrast, patent in idiosyncratic ways, with a few very active universities joined by many that engage in little or no patenting. This suggests that privates, unlike their public counterparts, pursue patenting selectively and strategically.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationHigher Education Dynamics
PublisherSpringer Science and Business Media B.V.
Pages103-123
Number of pages21
DOIs
StatePublished - 2016

Publication series

NameHigher Education Dynamics
Volume45
ISSN (Print)1571-0378
ISSN (Electronic)2215-1923

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Education

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Patents and university strategies in the prestige economy'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this