Abstract
CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is the most important laboratory for particle physics in the world. It requires cutting edge technologies to deliver scientific discoveries. This paper investigates the time span needed for technology suppliers of CERN to absorb the knowledge acquired during the procurement relation and develop it into a patent. We estimate count data models relying on a sample of CERN suppliers for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), a particle accelerator. Firms in our sample received their first LHC-related order over a long-time span (1995–2008). This fact is exploited to estimate the time lag that separates the beginning of the procurement relationship and the filing date of patents. Becoming a supplier of CERN is associated with a statistically significant increase in the number of patent applications by firms. Moreover, such an effect requires a relatively long gestation lag in the range of five to eight years.
Highlights
The term “Big Science” identifies the style of scientific analysis characterizing research in physics, astronomy and molecular biology after World War II (Dennis, 2017)
The existence of a gestation lag of innovation for CERN suppliers is investigated in Tables 3, where we regress the number of patent applications per year on a set of dummy variables that track the timing of CERN impact on patents, while controlling for several covariates that might act as confounding factors
This paper contributes to the literature on Public Procurement for Innovation (PPI) through Big Science Centers (BSC) studying the impact of CERN on the innovation output of its suppliers
Summary
The term “Big Science” identifies the style of scientific analysis characterizing research in physics, astronomy and molecular biology after World War II (Dennis, 2017). BSC’s industrial partners face both challenges and opportunities. Might emerge from BSC through three main channels: (1) technological breakthroughs leading to start-ups and spin-offs involving BSC’s employees and collaborators; (2) inventions and patents filed by researchers at universities and firms collaborating with the BSC; (3) new business opportunities for BSC’s industrial partners.. BSC’s suppliers are required to deliver new products with technology specifications developed for scientific purposes and for which a market might not exist yet. There are risks related to the specificity of such technologies and a long time might be required for suppliers to absorb the knowledge acquired during their collaboration with the BSC and to translate it into an innovation output, such as a patent application
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