History and Past Activities
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History and Past Activities |
Joachim Klerx & Doris Schartinger
Austrian Research Centers
Seibersdorf
Austria
e-mail: joachim.klerx@arcs.ac.at, doris.schartinger@arcs.ac.at
Commodification and the Transfer of Knowledge from Austrian Universities
The realization that the diffusion of knowledge is just as crucial as its generation is one of the hallmarks of a knowledge based economy. Universities play a key role in this respect as they contribute to the production; the transmission and the transfer of knowledge.
As knowledge has in part the characteristics of an economic commodity, this paper applies two different approaches of analysis: On the one hand, traditional economic analysis is used where consumer differentiation is an important strategy for producers and brokers. On the other hand the dynamics of strategic behavior regarding knowledge transfer are presented from a game theoretical point of view. Game theory offers instruments to describe and calculate optimal behavior in the knowledge market especially with respect to a different level of power in the exchange relationship.
We assume that the amount of commodified knowledge at universities rises as they are increasingly concerned with the application of knowledge to solve social, economic, and political problems. Universities use various mechanisms to transfer knowledge to the economy. These mechanisms involve varying degrees of commodification of knowledge in reference to the degree of rationalization. Knowledge in form of an unspecific idea has a lower degree of commodification than knowledge in form of a well defined and validated theory. In the empirical part of our paper, we investigate on the frequency of various mechanisms of knowledge transfer at Austrian university departments.
Sociology of Science and Technology NETwork - last update: April 2006