Knowledge transfer and university patents in Mexico

Résumé 0

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to examine the factors that influence the ability of Mexican public universities to generate patents. Academic patents are deserving of increasing interest as channels for the transfer of knowledge from universities to firms. Design/methodology/approach – A review of the international literature on the main factors that explain the production of patents was undertaken. On the basis of this information, a database for 80 Mexican universities was built and a model estimated. This model has three components: the institutional characteristics of the universities, the presence of a technology transfer office, and the socioeconomic environment. Findings – The results from the econometric analysis show the positive effects that universities’ size and scientific quality, the existence of a technology transfer office, and the socioeconomic environment have on the applications for patents. These results show the complexity of academic patents as a channel for transferring knowledge and suggest the convenience of some degree of specialization and differentiation between universities. Originality/value – The existing analyses for the USA and some European countries show that the institutional framework and the individual characteristics of the universities are relevant factors in the production of academic patents. The quantitative analysis carried out in this paper for a Latin-American country, with different characteristics from the USA and Europe, allows a better understanding of academic patenting and has implications for the design of innovation policies.