Valuation of public research (Policy Brief 325 - March 2013)
To what extent and through what channels the public research organizations manage to develop their work? Learn from foreign experience can clarify the diagnosis and to consider ways to improve.
- Valuation of public research: what criteria of success in international comparison?
In a context of budgetary restrictions and increased international competition, universities and other public research organizations strive to maximize the value their work, that is to say, to get the most out of economic benefits. These trends relate in particular to France, where the government has just launched a series of measures to enhance the value of public research and the transfer of technological knowledge between the academic and the industrial world. On this theme, a thorough analysis of experiences in the major industrial countries can clarify both the purposes that the terms and results of this valuation. Firstly, the observed differences in performance between countries and within them can be explained largely by institutional factors and structural, in particular on the tasks and profile scientific and technological organizations in question.
Second, the role played by patents and licenses proved very variable depending on the area of technology. So bound, the overall value of royalties collected is very unstable and unevenly distributed in time. As a result, the vast majority of offices in charge of the valuation does not cover its costs, and even the United States or the United Kingdom it is generally unrealistic to consider this activity as a source of net profit. In addition, the size and experience of teams of recovery are among the main factors of success. Based on this observation, countries like France and Germany have recently created regional agencies to pool resources valuation available. However, the pace of development of these agencies is necessarily slow - requires learning effect - and the idea that they can be self - same term - seems unrealistic.
Summary
- Enhancement, technology transfer: What is it?
- Compare and interpret performance indicators
- Disparities due to structural and institutional factors
- Challenges common to different structures of valuation
- Industrial ecosystem structure of cybersecurity
- Author: Rémi Lallement Economics Finance Department
Keywords : development, public research, technology transfer, intellectual property, patent.