Universities, Joint Ventures, and Success in the Advanced Technology Program

The purpose of the Advanced Technology Program(ATP) at the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) is to fundenabling technologies that firms are unlikely to pursue withoutassistance.ATP's role in the success of participant firms remains open todebate.Its effects may be evaluated in terms of overall change insuccessful patent applications during the period of ATP support. Empirical analysis, based on archival data on patents, is used to test anumber of hypotheses, all of which concern the effect of ATP participation onpatenting.More specifically, it is hypothesized that ATP participationhas a positive effect on patenting at the firm level, that participation injoint-venture projects offers more benefits to firms than do single participantprojects, and that firms with university partner or subcontractors enjoygreater benefits from ATP participation than other firms.The analysisreveals that ATP participation increases patenting on average by 4 to 25percent.Also, joint ventures and university collaboration have a positiveimpact on innovation.ATP project participation fosters firm-widebehavioral and organizational changes, which in turn promote increasedinnovation rates.(SAA)