The impact of university research on corporate patenting: evidence from UK universities

This paper analyzes the association between the number of patenting manufacturing firms and the quantity and quality of relevant university research across UK postcode areas. Our results indicate that different measures of research ‘power’ and ‘excellence’ positively affect the patenting of small firms within the same postcode area. Patenting by large firms, in contrast, is unaffected by research undertaken in nearby universities. This confirms the commonly held view that location matters more for small firms than large firms.