From knowledge to product

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between institutional change and commercialization of university research in China, the largest developing country during 1985‐2007 period.Design/methodology/approachThe findings are based on a comparative case study of two key Chinese universities. Both unstructured and semi‐interviews are utilized for the research.FindingsThere is still a gap between goals of institutional change and performances of commercializing university research, albeit improvements have also been observed over last two decades.Research limitations/implicationsOnly two universities are selected to approach the complex commercialization process, more cases are needed for further research.Practical implicationsExperience generated from this comparative study might be helpful for other developing countries to explore the appropriate paths to commercialize their research results.Originality/valueThree modes of commercialization proposed in the paper might help for cross‐country comparison research.