Contracting over the disclosure of scientific knowledge: Intellectual property and academic publication
Name
Stern_Contracting over.pdf
Description
Submitted version
Size
1.79 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
083ccc8a23784b68ebf3eeb1aebb89dc
Author(s)
Gans, Joshua S.
Murray, Fiona E.
Stern, Scott
Date Issued
May 2017
Journal
Research Policy
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Citation
Gans, Joshua S. et al. "Contracting over the disclosure of scientific knowledge: Intellectual property and academic publication." Research Policy 46, 4 (May 2017): 820-835 © 2017 Elsevier B.V.
Version
Original manuscript
Abstract
This paper provides a theoretical investigation of the tension over knowledge disclosure between firms and their scientific employees. While empirical research suggests that scientists exhibit a “taste for science,” such open disclosures can limit a firm's competitive advantage or ability to profitably commercialize their innovations. To explore how this tension is resolved we focus on the strategic interaction between researchers and firms bargaining over whether (and how) knowledge will be disclosed. We evaluate four disclosure strategies: secrecy, patenting, open science (scientific publication) and patent-paper pairs providing insights into the determinants of the disclosure strategy of a firm. We find that patents and publications can be complementary instruments facilitating the disclosure of knowledge-providing predictions as to when stronger IP protection regimes might drive openness by firms.
MIT Department
Sloan School of Management
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2017.02.005
