TY  - JOUR
AU  - Rosell,Carlos
AU  - Agrawal,Ajay
TI  - University Patenting: Estimating the Diminishing Breadth of Knowledge Diffusion and Consumption
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 12640
PY  - 2006
Y2  - October 2006
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w12640
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w12640.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Carlos Rosell
Department of Finance Canada
L'Esplanade Laurier, 18th Floor East Tower
140 O'Connor Street
Ottawa, Canada
K1A 0G5
Tel: 613-947-5480
Fax: 613-992-5773
E-Mail: carlos.rosell@fin.gc.ca

Ajay K. Agrawal
Rotman School of Management
University of Toronto
105 St. George Street
Toronto, ON M5S 3E6
CANADA
Tel: 416/946-0203
Fax: 416/978-5433
E-Mail: ajay.agrawal@rotman.utoronto.ca
AB  - The rate of university patenting increased dramatically during the 1980s. To what extent did the knowledge flow patterns associated with public sector inventions change as university administrators and faculty seemingly became more commercially oriented? Using a Herfindahl-type measure of patent assignee concentration and employing a difference-in-differences estimation to compare university to firm patents across two time periods, we find that the university diffusion premium (the degree to which knowledge flows from patented university inventions are more widely distributed across assignees than those of firms) declined by over half during the 1980s. In addition, we find that the university diversity premium (the degree to which knowledge inflows used to develop patented university inventions are drawn from a less concentrated set of prior art holders than those used by firms) also declined by over half. Moreover, in both cases the estimated increase in knowledge flow concentration is largely driven by universities experienced in patenting, suggesting these phenomena are not likely to dissipate with experience.
ER  -