Market structure and technology licensing: Evidence from US manufacturing

This paper empirically investigates how market structure, including firm- and industry-level variables, influences the incentives of companies to license out their technology. Empirical analysis is provided with the help of a panel data set of observed licensing transactions worldwide involving manufacturing companies publicly traded in the USA. The findings show that dominant firms with bigger market shares are actively involved in granting technology licenses. It was also found that company's prior involvement in licensing, the concentration and the market size of its primary industry, and the propensity to receive patents (i.e. strength of the intellectual property protection) in that industry are important determinants of the propensity to transfer technology through licensing agreements. Results suggest that transaction costs, strategic considerations, and knowledge appropriability weigh in heavily in explaining firms' licensing behaviour.