The role of regional economic specialization in the production of university-owned patents

Abstract Several studies have revealed that R&D funds, university-level characteristics and the internal university environment determine the number of patents applied for by universities. However, only a few papers have analysed the effect of the demand side on the production of patents. This study looks into the extent to which patents generated by European universities are related to the regional specialization of host regions. Drawing on a sample of 3330 university-owned patents from the European Patent Office, covering the period 2001–2004, and several count models, our results suggest that the regional economic specialization significantly affects the production of university patents in high-technology sectors. We did not find any significant relationship between the regional specialization and the production of medium and low university-patented technologies.