Privatizing the intellectual commons: Universities and the commercialization of biotechnology

This paper analyzes universities' recent attempts to adapt their policies and organizational arrangements in order to accommodate the commercialization of university biotechnology research. We argue that these attempts have been severely hampered because internal and external parties have sought to enforce universities' adherence to their historic commitment to create and sustain an 'intellectual commons' for the benefit of society at large. The standardized organizational arrangements universities maintain to administer this intellectual commons have also served to impede adaptive efforts. We conclude that social-contractual commitments and organizational standards can significantly affect the shape and outcome of negotiations over property rights, and can place important limits on the scope of organizations, potentially leading to the generation of new organizational forms.