The growth of China’s technology transfer industry over the next decade: implications for global markets

China has moved mightily over the last 30 years to increase its capacity to develop indigenous technology to invigorate its industrial base and shift it from the world’s factory to the world’s developer and manufacturer of products. To achieve this requires buttressing an emerging intellectual property system, increasing university research while encouraging scientists to patent and commercialize their discoveries. Additionally, the development of a functioning and agile venture capital system to invest in these new technologies, coupled with liquid equity markets for consummating IPO’s have been developed in record time. Will these remarkable efforts be sufficient to allow China to dominate the technology transfer market domestically or internationally over the next 10 years? The conclusions are twofold: on one hand, China undoubtedly will become the world’s largest customer for technology transfers both domestically and internationally, but global leadership in new technology development and licensing from research institutions is unlikely to be achieved over the next 10 years. Foreign firms, especially those within the US or with strong ties to the US are most likely to dominate this sector due to the US’s comprehensive university network coupled with its well established IP technology transfer industry.     

“PARADOX OF ENGLISH LAND LAW” — AN ENLIGHTENMENT TO LAND LAW REFORM IN CHINA

Since the founding of New China in 1949, the land law system with Chinese characteristics has been formed based on various practices, inter alia, the evolution of the rural land law system from the agrarian reform to the cooperative and people’s communes and further to the household contract responsibility system, which made historical contributions to the development of Chinese social economy. However, with the development of the practices and the deepening of the reform, China’s land law system is facing great challenges under the new circumstances. Although many differences exist between English land law and Chinese land law in the areas of legal form, the regulated objects and contents, English land law can provide some beneficial enlightenment to China’s land law reform. Particularly, the “paradox of English land law,” which presents the way how the English land law, as the law adjusting the basic property relations with many traditional factors, responds to the process of social and economic development with leaps and bounds.     

Explaining differences in sub-national patterns of clean technology transfer to China and India

The Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) has the capacity to incentivize the international transfer of environmentally sound technologies. Given that both countries are expected to have similar incentives when managing the distribution of technology transfer within the country, why do sub-national patterns in the allocation of projects with technology transfer differ? Using comparable political–economic data compiled for China and India, we offer an explanation for these differences. In China, where the government regards the CDM as a tool for achieving sustainable development, technology transfer is concentrated in provinces that need it the most and that are most conducive to receiving transfers (i.e., economically less developed, yet heavily industrialized provinces). In India, where the government takes on a “laissez-faire” approach to the CDM, neither level of economic development nor that of industrialization affects clean technology transfer. In this regard, although the incentives are similar, the capacity to pursue them is not comparable. We test these hypotheses using data on CDM technology transfer across Chinese provinces and Indian states during the 6-year period from 2004 to 2010.     

Research expenditures,technology transfer activity,and university licensing revenue

In this paper we relate university licensing revenues to both university research expenditures and characteristics of the university and the university technology transfer office. We apply the Hausman–Taylor estimator for panel data with time-invariant explanatory variables and the Arellano–Bover dynamic panel model to unbalanced panels for the years 1991–2003 and balanced panels for the years 1995–2003. We find conflicting evidence regarding the short-term impacts of research expenditures on licensing revenues. On the other hand, both early initiation of technology transfer programs and staff size increase expected licensing revenues. Staff size and early entry appear to be substitutes, however. One-year lagged licensing revenue has strong predictive power for current licensing revenue. Further research is necessary to analyze changes in technology transfer office efficiency over time and the contribution of technology transfer to larger university missions.     

University technology transfer through entrepreneurship: faculty and students in spinoffs

This research informs our understanding of the technology commercialization process in university spinoffs, focusing in particular on student involvement in the early phases of the spinoff development process and on the impact of the larger university ecosystem. Detailed case studies indicate that graduate and post-doctoral students are important participants in university spinoffs. We offer a typology of spinoff development with four pathways, based on the varying roles of faculty, experienced entrepreneurs, PhD/post-doctoral students, and business students. The effects of the larger university ecosystem, beyond the university technology transfer office and the university’s commercialization policies, are also considered, including an examination of programs and practices that may influence this process. We close with a discussion of guidelines for technology transfer and spinoff development at universities, based on the findings of this research.     

The ivory tower approach to entrepreneurial linkage: productivity changes in university technology transfer

Academic entrepreneurship has been intensively applied to the area of technology innovation and diffusion in the US. Along with the promotion of innovative approaches, universities take advantage of knowledge spillovers from their laboratories to the market for both economic development and financial gains. This study assessed individual university productivity in technology transfer using feasible measures of multiple input–output combinations and data envelopment analysis to examine panel data gathered over the period 1999–2007. A major finding is that there was substantial growth in the average productivity of university technology transfer during this period. The average annual productivity gain in the 90 universities was over 30%, indicating that universities’ technology transfer activities were relatively efficient in terms of their input to output ratio. The positive shifts in average productivity changes were primarily due to the increasing frequencies of commercial outputs. This finding suggests that universities and public policy should pay attention to stimulate commercial activities rather than to increase investments for upgrading a next level of realistic, long-term strategies.     

University reputation and technology commercialization: evidence from nanoscale science

We study how the scientific reputations and technology transfer policies of universities affect patenting by university researchers, with particular regard to whether they assign patent ownership to their university or to an outside firm. Using data on the career output of over 33,000 researchers in nanosciences, we find a strongly positive relationship of university reputation in nanosciences with the number of university-assigned patents, but almost a negligible association with firm-assignment of patents. University technology transfer office resources are related positively to both types of patents, but with diminishing returns. In contrast, the share of license revenue offered upfront to researchers is positively associated with university-assigned patents, but negatively related to firm-assigned patents. Taken together, our results suggest that universities that streamline their technology transfer efforts and improve their research reputation through support for basic research will see long-term success in technology commercialization.     

The impact of technology transfer contract on a firm’s market value in Korea

Technology transfer has been evaluated as a driving force of economic growth as well as one way to create new innovation. In order to make a successful technology transfer, both additional emission efforts by the supplier and absorption efforts by the recipient are required, because it is not as simple as the acquisition of a capital good. This study seeks to better understand the nature of successful technology transfer in Korea. We empirically analyzed the impact of the supplier’s characteristics (cultural distance, relationship type, form of technology transfer, and licensing type) and the recipient’s characteristics (absorptive capacity) on the market value of firms in Korea using the event study methodology. We found that technology transfer announcements significantly increase the market value of firms in Korea, and market responses to the recipient firms are significantly greater than those to the supplier firms. Our results showed that the effect of alliances with complementors (e.g., university, government laboratory) is greater than that of alliances with industry players, and the effect of an exclusive license as a method of technology transfer is greater than that of a non-exclusive license. However, we were not able to determine whether the impact of high levels of absorptive capacity is significantly different from that of low levels of absorptive capacity. Our study will not only complement and extend research on technology transfer, but also provide firms with various methods to decrease the risks related to technology transfer.     

Digital Inclusion for Persons with Disabilities in China Under COVID-19: How Far Has China Come?

This article reviews social regulatory and redistributive policies in China that aim at fostering digital inclusion of persons with disabilities. We examine the emerging Chinese policies and how China has responded to the impacts of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on digital inclusion in terms of redistribution, market regulation, involvement of persons with disabilities and disabled people’s organizations (DPOs), and awareness-raising campaigns. The policy review demonstrates that the Chinese policy framework contains a few redistributive initiatives, for example, cash transfer programs, and free distribution of information and communications technology (ICT). These have the potential to increase the uptake of ICT among persons with disabilities. The Chinese policy framework also includes provisions to ensure consultation with individual persons with disabilities and DPOs in the deliberation and implementation of ICT accessibility policies. While China has initiated awareness-raising campaigns among market actors about the importance of digital inclusion, so far, the Chinese government has adopted little legal regulation of the market to foster accessibility to ICT. The article thus argues that some of the limitations may be due to the way state–market relations have developed since the economy opened up in 1978. Apart from the growing benefits of several cash transfer programs, we have not seen major changes or adjustments to the current policy framework during the efforts to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on digital inclusion.     

论我国技术转让法律制度的完善——以美欧在WTO相关诉告为背景

为遏制我国进一步发展,美国和欧盟相继在WTO起诉我国存在“强制技术转让”。在澄清国内法律与WTO规则相符性的同时,我国已意识到完善技术转让法律制度的内生需要与此次美欧起诉具有相关性:我国并未出台专门的技术转让法,有关措施散见于诸多法律条文而妨碍了制度的整体效用。此外,我国未全面利用WTO例外规定对发展中国家的保护,致使本国劣势企业负担过高义务。为创设公平的技术转让法治环境并避免发达国家滥用技术保护,我国需整合有关法律规范,修正过时规定,依据技术转让所涉的贸易和投资不同属性区别立法,并积极通过国际规则寻求优惠待遇。     

From Triads to snakeheads: organised crime and illegal migration within Britain's Chinese community

This article revisits the continued existence of organised crime within the Chinese community, with particular reference to snakeheads and the trafficking or smuggling of illegal migrants. This article begins by exploring the history of Chinese organised crime within the United Kingdom and situates its continued existence within an ever more diverse ‘Chinese community’. It then draws on research involving three sets of qualitative data: one set is based on 60 interviews with law enforcement personnel based in China and the United Kingdom as well as key stakeholders within the Chinese community; the other set is based on structured questionnaires issued to 25 Chinese residents currently illegally residing in the United Kingdom; the final set is a review of the five free Chinese newspapers analysed over a 2-week period for relevant advertisements relating to migration. It then explores the mechanisms which enable illegal migrants to obtain criminal employment and discusses the motivations of those involved.     

中国法文化传统与现代法治

中国传统社会未将自由与权利概念化并不意味着中国古人无自由与权利。中国传统法律制度在整体上应当被改造、被置换,但并不意味着古人积累的技术智慧与程序艺术不可被承继,更不意味着支撑法文化传统的基于人性又反映中国文化特质的原则可以被抛弃。中国文化传统仍然是我们探讨中国现代法治的逻辑起点。     

Technology transfer at land-grant universities

Improvement in the ability of universities in the United States to transfer technology to the private sector is seen as a factor in strengthening American competitiveness. To better understand the university's role in this process, a survey of formal university programs in technology transfer was performed through personal interviews at four midwestern land-grant universities. There are six basic types of programs in place: technical assistance, affiliate, licensing, business development, incubators and research parks, and information networks. For purposes of classifying these programs, we used the model developed by Janis et al. (1) It was found that, of the six modes of technology transfer, two could be considered active, three semi-active and one passive.     

Inside the university technology transfer office: mission statement analysis

The focus of our paper is to qualitatively explore the mission statements components of university TTOs using Pearce and David’s (Acad Manag Exec 1(2):109–115, 1987) eight components. Mission statements are the organization’s central defining purpose and focus. In essence an organizations’ raison d’etre. Given the growing importance of the role TTOs now play, understanding components of mission statements is timely, particularly during the first phase of TTO developments. To provide insights concerning these issues our study is set in the Republic of Ireland, which has one of the top performing university and public research organization technology transfer system within the European Union. Using Pearce and David (1987) well established eight mission statement components we analyzed seven Irish university TTO mission statements. We also conducted quantitative analysis on the number of mission statement components and selected variables. We found that university TTO mission statements focused primarily on two mission components—target customers and markets and principal services. From our quantitative analysis we found moderate positive correlations between patents granted and number of mission statement components. Furthermore we found there was a positive correlation between grants granted outside of Ireland and the number of mission components. Our results, albeit they are tempered by a small sample of data, have pertinent implications for TTOs.     

The university and business incubation: Technology transfer through entrepreneurial development

This paper reviews university programs that seek to promote technology transfer through entrepreneurial development. It describes fourkey factors (talent, technology, capital, and know-how) that must be linked for successful transfer, and focuses on the new-business incubator as an important mechanism for synergizing these factors in the university. The paper also shows how the incubator supports the development of new technology companies by helping them build credibility, shorten the learning curve, and solve problems faster, and by providing access to entrepreneurial networks. Empirical data on selected university incubators are presented.     

Research on innovation management and technology transfer in China

Research on innovation management and technology transfer in China is in its early stages and growing rapidly, as technology is transferred to Chinese organizations and the organizations themselves create innovations. The studies to date provide promising theoretical ideas, but specific findings should be regarded as tentative, due to the research designs and methods employed. As with early research on innovation in the West, it is likely that these early studies of innovation in China will have significant impact on innovation research and practice in the future, both in China and throughout the world.     

The transfer of public science to patented technology: A case study in agricultural science

One of the most difficult challenges in technology transfer is to measure the movement of knowledge from basic scientific research to industrial technology. This paper will report on a study of the linkage between science supported by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and patented technology. This study traced the citations from U.S. patents issued in 1987–88 and 1993–94 to scientific research papers linked to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The number of patent citations to ARS papers, and to other USDA-supported papers has increased fourfold over the six-year period. A distinct difference also exists between the patent-cited ARS papers and patent-cited extramural USDA-supported papers: ARS papers are in more agriculturally related journals, while the extramural papers were in more basic and biomedical journals. USDA-supported papers were overwhelmingly cited by U.S.-invented patents (in a patent system in which half the patents are foreign-invented). In the primary field of ARS papers (Biology), they are cited much more often by patents than Biology papers from any other publishing organization. Since the publishing organizations and support sources of all the papers cited in these patents have now been identified, we can study the transfer of scientific results to patented technology by institution, by agency, or by any other category of patent or paper holder. The authors thank the Agricultural Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agricultural, especially Dr. Richard Parry, for this paper' use of the study performed for them by CHI Research, Inc. (Grant number 59-0790-6-054)     

Applications of GIS in Public Security Agencies in China

The application of GIS in the public security industry is generally called “Police Geographic Information System (PGIS)” in Mainland China. Although China’s PGIS play important roles in protecting public safety and smart policing, no publications on this subject are found in English. This paper provides an overview of the four main development stages of PGIS in public security agencies in mainland China: the early exploration stage; the multi-department PGIS system development stage; the centralization stage; and the spread and improvement stage. Successful GIS applications and practices in local police departments are also introduced in this paper. At the end of this paper, three problems and challenges faced in the development of PGIS are introduced, involving the current PGIS application depth; the support of crime mapping and crime analysis theoretical research on policing practices; and the introduction and localization of mature foreign crime analysis and prediction technology. Additionally, we point out that the implementation of smart policing strategies under the context of big data has created favorable conditions for subsequent crime analysis, research, and application, encouraging police departments to more frequently take initiative by cooperating with research institutions in crime analysis and prediction technology research. These new opportunities will inevitably promote the rapid development of PGIS and the geography of crime in China.

     

China’s anti-graft campaign and international anti-corruption norms: Towards a “new international anti-corruption order”?

This article analyzes the growing impact of an increasingly powerful China on the evolution of norms governing the global fight against corruption. Combining insights into the diffusion of anti-corruption norms and China’s ‘two-way socialization’ into the international order with an analysis of the Chinese leadership’s internationalized anti-corruption campaign, it argues that China’s active involvement in the international fight against corruption is bound to challenge prevailing international ‘definitions’ and ‘solutions’ of corruption. Despite the considerable attention to supposed incompatibilities between ‘culturally insensitive’ Western anti-corruption efforts and conflicting Chinese cultural norms, the actual ‘China challenge’ to the international anti-corruption regime is much less a cultural than a political one. While China’s formal-legal anti-corruption system has been receptive to international socialization, China’s own contributions to international norm making are defined by the Party’s top-level leadership, which promotes a different set of anti-corruption norms. However, a coherent alternative ‘Chinese model’ of anti-corruption, akin to the globally propagated ‘China path’ for economic development and poverty reduction, is not yet in sight.     

The beginning of university entrepreneurship in Japan: TLOs and bioventures lead the way

Following reforms between 1998 and 2004, Japan’s technology transfer system closely resembles the U.S. Bayh-Dole system. Numbers of TLO patents and licenses and numbers of startups are respectable compared to U.S. numbers shortly after enactment of Bayh-Dole. However, capabilities of TLOs vary, average royalties are low, and business prospects for most startups seem limited. In contrast, joint research with companies is increasing rapidly. Most joint research inventions are jointly owned giving the companies an automatic de facto, non-transferable, royalty-free and license. Data from one university show a large proportion of engineering and materials/chemistry inventions are attributed to joint research with large companies, thus limiting opportunities for startup formation and licensing to other small companies. (In biomedicine, pre-emption of discoveries by joint research is less.) Pre-emption of university discoveries (often publicly funded) under joint research agreements recreates the pre-reform system, where corporate donations also enabled pre-emption of discoveries. Like the old system, the new system is advantageous to established companies. Strengthening the formal system (including programs to assist startups) may redress this balance and give Japan the benefits of both types of technology transfer systems.