Technology transfer performance: a comparative analysis of two universities in Japan

An important form of technology transfer is the commercialisation of university research, which is indispensable for industrial competitiveness and innovation. However, the technology transfer performance of universities varies widely. This paper compares the technology transfer performance of two Japanese universities: Kobe University, a large urban university, and Tokushima University, a small-scale university situated in a regional city. University attributes, researcher attributes, and the role played by the universities' technology transfer organisations (TTOs) were examined, with the aim of understanding how these affect the commercialisation of university research. Despite having characteristics that previous research suggests are associated with superior technology transfer performance, including large size, nearness to industrial clusters, and strong research capacity, Kobe University's licensing revenues are found to be far smaller than those of Tokushima University. Results from a questionnaire survey of researchers highlight differences between the universities' TTOs that have played a critical role in producing this outcome.