University Innovation and the Professor's Privilege

S-Tier
Journal: American Economic Review
Year: 2018
Volume: 108
Issue: 7
Pages: 1860-98

Score contribution per author:

4.022 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

National policies take varied approaches to encouraging university-based innovation. This paper studies a natural experiment: the end of the "professor's privilege" in Norway, where university researchers previously enjoyed full rights to their innovations. Upon the reform, Norway moved toward the typical US model, where the university holds majority rights. Using comprehensive data on Norwegian workers, firms, and patents, we find a 50 percent decline in both entrepreneurship and patenting rates by university researchers after the reform. Quality measures for university start-ups and patents also decline. Applications to literature on university technology transfer, innovation incentives, and taxes and entrepreneurship are considered.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:aea:aecrev:v:108:y:2018:i:7:p:1860-98
Journal Field
General
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-25