Different yokes for different folks: Individual preferences, institutional logics, and the commercialization of academic research

Abstract

In this chapter, we review the literature that analyzes how the peculiar missions, rules, and incentive systems in the scientific community affect the process and outcomes of the commercialization of academic research. We will focus on how the peculiar institutional logics of academia determine the decision of academics to commercialize their research, and how these logics affect the outsourcing of research from firms to academic laboratories, as well as the attempts of firms to reproduce academic incentive systems within their research labs by allowing their researchers to publish and offering them financial rewards based on their standing in the scientific community. Finally, we report on research that has analyzed how the rules of the scientific community might lead to the production, transfer, and commercialization of false knowledge.

Citation

Fini, R. and Lacetera, N. (2010), "Different yokes for different folks: Individual preferences, institutional logics, and the commercialization of academic research", Libecap, G.D., Thursby, M. and Hoskinson, S. (Ed.) Spanning Boundaries and Disciplines: University Technology Commercialization in the Idea Age (Advances in the Study of Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Economic Growth, Vol. 21), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 1-25. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1048-4736(2010)0000021004