Technological Relevance between Higher Education and IT Industries: Patent Citation Data Analyses

1. Technological Relevance between Higher Education and IT Industries: Patent Citation Data Analyses Hyungjoo Kim Science & Technology Policy Institute Seoul, Korea Supported by NSF DDRI award No. 0302670

2. Research Purpose Investigate varying technological relevance/connection between IT companies and universities under different settings: diverse company strategies influenced by company size, universities of varying reputation, physical proximity Technological Relevance between Higher Education and IT Industries

3. Information Technology (IT) Companies • Hardware, software, communication equipment, and communication services • Increasing importance in knowledge-based economy • Why growing attention to the interactions between universities and IT companies? (1) Higher level of formal and continuing education requirements for IT-related jobs (2) Rapid pace of technological change (3) Increased competition Technological Relevance between Higher Education and IT Industries

4. Factors Affecting Technological Relevance between Universities and IT Companies • Size of IT establishments • Reputation of universities • Physical proximity Technological Relevance between Higher Education and IT Industries

5. Methods • USPTO Patent citation data 1990-1999 • Degree of technological relevance/connection between universities and IT companies: number of times that university-held patents in IT-related technologies were cited by patents granted to IT companies • Aggregated relationship by MSA (276 MSA/CMSA) NOT a relationship between individual companies and universities Technological Relevance between Higher Education and IT Industries

6. Size of IT Companies and Patent Citations • Hypothesis 1 Metropolitan areas with a higher proportion of large IT companies are likely to have more university-held patent citations in IT-company patents. Technological Relevance between Higher Education and IT Industries

7. Size of IT Companies and Patent Citations by MSA • Statistically significant relationship • Correlation 0.408* LGRCITAL= -1.296 + 0.681* x LGR500 • LGRCITAL= log (number of citations of university-held patents in IT company-patents, 1990-1999, by MSA) • LGX500= log (proportion of IT companies with employment more than 500 in 1995, by MSA) • significant at the 0.01 level Technological Relevance between Higher Education and IT Industries

8. Reputation of Universities and Patent Citations • Hypothesis 2 Metropolitan areas with very prestigious universities should have more university-held patent citations in IT-company patents, than metropolitan areas without very prestigious universities. Technological Relevance between Higher Education and IT Industries

9. Reputation of Universities and Patent Citationsby MSA • Statistically significant relationship • Correlation -0.664* (Spearman’s rho) • LGUITAL =3.080* - 0.531* x RANKING • LGUITAL = log (number of IT-related patent citations universities received by IT companies 1990-1999) • RANKING = reputation of Engineering Schools at universities in 1995 • significant at the 0.01 level Technological Relevance between Higher Education and IT Industries

10. Physical Proximity and Patent Citations • Hypothesis 3 Physical proximity between universities and IT establishments has a positive relationship with the degree of technological relevance/connection between them. Technological Relevance between Higher Education and IT Industries

11. Number of University-held Patents Cited by patents granted to All IT CompaniesProportions of Citations by IT Companies located in the Same Metropolitan Areas Technological Relevance between Higher Education and IT Industries

12. Geographic Distribution of Citation Counts: Number of citations that University-Held Patents in IT-related Technologies received from patents granted to IT Companies Technological Relevance between Higher Education and IT Industries

13. Geographic Distribution of Citation Counts: NUMBER of citations that University-Held Patents in IT-related Technologies received from patents granted to IT companies Technological Relevance between Higher Education and IT Industries

14. Geographic Distribution of Citation Counts: PROPORTION of citations that University-Held Patents in IT-related Technologies received from patents granted to IT companies Technological Relevance between Higher Education and IT Industries

15. Conclusions • Corporate patent citations of university-held patents in IT-related fields are more prevalent in large-firm-dominated metropolitan areas than in metropolitan areas with relatively few large IT companies (hypothesis 1). • Corporate patent citations of university-held patents in IT-relevant fields are more prevalent in metropolitan areas where more prestigious universities are located than where less prestigious universities are located (hypothesis 2). • Physical proximity does not increase the degree of technological relevance/connection between universities and IT-producing establishments (hypothesis 3). Technological Relevance between Higher Education and IT Industries

16. Thank you!Technological Relevance between Higher Education and IT Industries in U.S. metropolitan areas: Patent Citation Data Analyses Hyungjoo Kim Science & Technology Policy Institute hjkim@stepi.re.kr T2S Conference, Sep 27-29, 2006, Atlanta, GA