Developing internationally comparable indicators for the commercialization of publically-funded research

Abstract

Over the past decade, innovation policy in many OECD countries has stressed the need to improve the commercialization of research results from ‘public science’ institutions such as universities and government research institutes. Within Europe, this policy focus is partly due to a perception that Europe has failed to benefit from its substantial investments in public research, in contrast to the American experience, where university research results are believed to lie behind the creation of several globally competitive firms and blockbuster products ranging from pharmaceuticals to computer hardware and software. Another measure of American success in commercializing public science is the substantial licensing income that universities such as Stanford, Columbia, MIT and the University of Florida have earned from patenting their inventions