Study title

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.

The Benefits and Costs of Knowledge and Technology Transfer: a Panel Data Analysis, 1985-2007 aimed to create a dataset that would enable researchers to document and analyse quantitatively the evolution of research output, knowledge and technology transfer measures in the UK. In particular the researchers planned to measure the dynamic impact of industry collaboration on individual academic research output. The study addresses the concerns that received most public and scholarly attention: firstly the reduction in the number of publications, secondly the increase in applied research versus basic; and thirdly the delay of publications due to secrecy requirements for patents. Despite the extensive interest in knowledge and technology transfer, most of the claims in either direction still lack satisfying empirical evidence stemming from the analysis of a large and longitudinal dataset.

Further information can be found on the Benefits and Costs of Knowledge and Technology Transfer: A Panel Data Analysis ESRC Award web page.

Main Topics:

The final longitudinal study comprises career path information for more than 7,000 academics employed at the engineering departments of 40 major UK universities between 1985 and 2007. The study includes four separate data files:

• Basic - contains personal and career information of the academic
• Publications - contains publication information, one entry per publication and per researcher
• Patents - contains patenting information, one entry per patent per researcher
• EPSRC - contains EPSRC funding information, one entry per grant per researcher