Patent and Publication Activities of German Professors: An Empirical Assessment of Their Co-Activity

The growing importance of technology relevant non-publication output of university research has come into the focus of policy-makers’ interest. A fierce debate arose on possible negative consequences of the increasing commercialization of science, as it may come along with a reduction in research performance. This paper investigates the relationship between publishing as a measure of scientific output and patenting for German professors active in a range of science fields. We combine bibliometric/technometric indicators and econometric techniques to show that patenting positively correlates with the publication output and with publication quality of patenting researchers.