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Foreign‐Born Academic Scientists and Their Interactions with Industry: Implications for University Technology Commercialization and Corporate Innovation Management
Author(s) -
Libaers Dirk
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of product innovation management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.646
H-Index - 144
eISSN - 1540-5885
pISSN - 0737-6782
DOI - 10.1111/jpim.12099
Subject(s) - commercialization , odds , technology transfer , private sector , marketing , business , public relations , economics , political science , economic growth , medicine , international trade , logistic regression
This study examines and characterizes the way foreign‐born academic scientists interact with private firms. Using status characteristics theory, this inquiry explores how foreign‐born tenured and tenure‐track academic scientists in the 150 most research‐intensive U . S . universities interact with the private sector by means of six discrete interaction modes. The study further investigates whether foreign‐born academic scientists' interactions with private firms are more of a formal or informal nature vis‐à‐vis those of native‐born scientists'. The empirical analysis indicates that foreign‐born academic scientists have lower odds of having been approached by private firms to ask about their research activities, lower odds of having served as a paid consultant to firms, and lower odds of having been engaged in the joint transfer and commercialization of technologies with private firms relative to their U . S .‐born counterparts. In contrast, foreign‐born academic scientists have significantly higher odds of having coauthored scientific articles with private firms than their U . S .‐born counterparts. The paper discusses the implications for university technology commercialization and innovation management in firms.