Examining incentives to license technology in US high-tech industries

This paper empirically investigates potential factors that might affect firm's incentives to license out technology. The analysis is done with the help of a panel data set of observed licensing transactions involving US public companies in high-technology industries. The important explanatory factors relate to the firm characteristics such as the company's stock of technological knowledge (patent stock), prior involvement in technology licensing, the company size, R&D intensity and capital expenditure. The results suggest that there seems to be significant inter-sectoral differences as well as similarities in determinants of the propensity to transfer technology through licensing agreements.