Revenue Sharing: An Assessment of Current Policies at UK Universities

Abstract

The transfer of academic technologies to industry is an important process underpinning innovation and economic development. Various approaches have been adopted by universities to encourage academics to participate in commercial activities. Many have implemented revenue sharing policies, through which the revenues generated from university-owned intellectual property (IP) are distributed to internal stakeholders, including the inventing academics. This article assesses the current revenue sharing policies of 84 UK universities. The findings are of relevance to policy makers and practitioners seeking to benchmark existing policies and to explore how academics can be further incentivized to commercialize their research.