Factors affecting University Commercialization: Evidence from Italy

Abstract

University technology commercialization is a growing phenomenon. However, every country has a different approach to achieving the desired level of technology transfer. In Italy, a country that led the world in the development of institutions of higher education, technology transfer has become important only in the past few years. This paper focuses on the peculiarities, strengths, and weaknesses of the Italian model of technology transfer. Our analysis employs a functional interpretive framework of commercialization activities, viewing university technology commercialization using both internal and external lenses, as in previous assessments (Breznitz, 2011; Breznitz and Ram, 2012). The paper centers on what affects a university’s ability to commercialize technology. In particular, we test the hypothesis that the environment and history, as well as factors that are internal to the university, affect university commercialization. We conduct this analysis using the case study method, with two specialized technological universities that are engaged in general teaching and research activities in engineering and architecture: Politecnico di Torino and Politecnico di Milano. Although we find that a mix of both internal and external factors had some impact on their commercialization ability, external factors were more significant.