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Trends in University Ag‐Biotech Patent Production
Author(s) -
Barham Bradford,
Foltz Jeremy,
Kim Kwansoo
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
applied economic perspectives and policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.4
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 2040-5804
pISSN - 2040-5790
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9353.00020
Subject(s) - agricultural biotechnology , microbiology and biotechnology , citation , production (economics) , agriculture , land grant , work (physics) , business , political science , economics , biology , engineering , public administration , law , macroeconomics , mechanical engineering , ecology
This work exploits information on U.S. patents to identify trends in university ag‐biotech patenting and citation performance. It sets forth some key issues concerning patterns of university ag‐biotech patenting and then provides an empirical analysis of the evolving trends. Land grant universities account for most U.S. ag‐biotech patents. The data show a path‐dependent innovation pattern, in which there also seems to be a culture of patenting that develops at certain universities. Evidence shows that ag‐biotech patents are more cited than the average university patent. Inequalities across land grant universities are also evident in the production of ag‐biotech patents, although perhaps not to a much greater degree than underlying inequalities in funding and research qualities. The paper closes by considering how the evidence offered might be used to advance the public discussion regarding trends in agricultural biotechnology research in the United States.