Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

University technology transfer, regional specialization and local dynamics: lessons from Italy

  • Published:
The Journal of Technology Transfer Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Academic research on knowledge transfer has focused on the United States, the highest technologies, elite US research universities, and, for the most part, has not considered the interactions between regional firms and low- and medium-technology industries—the industries that are most important in most countries and in Italy, in particular. This Special Issue on knowledge transfer by Italian universities consists of papers that show the multi-faceted roles that Italian universities have developed and, in particular, their strong regional focus. In this introduction, we explore the interplay between universities’ involvement in knowledge transfer and local context and regional specificities. We discuss the variety of channels through which knowledge can flow and emphasize the mechanisms that universities have developed to interact with the lower technology, traditional industries that characterize the Italian economy. We explore the conundrum that Italian universities face as they must balance the competitive demands of academe to publish in international journals, while remaining engaged with local and regional businesses. The papers in this Special Issue examine the knowledge transfer efforts by universities in the very Italian different regions, which have their own different specific opportunities and needs for university engagement.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Source OECD 2020

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. For a more general discussion of place-product specificities, see Christensen and Kenney (2016).

  2. Kenney and Patton (2005) termed this the formation of an “entrepreneurial support network.”

  3. For an earlier examination of the relationship of university-industry technology transfer to local actors, see Kenney and Mowery (2014).

References

  • Agasisti, T., Barra, C., & Zotti, R. (2019). Research, knowledge transfer, and innovation: The effect of Italian universities’ efficiency on local economic development 2006–2012. Journal of Regional Science, 59(5), 819–849.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Agrawal, A. K. (2001). University-to-industry knowledge transfer: Literature review and unanswered questions. International Journal of Management Reviews, 3(4), 285–302.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Amighini, A., & Rabellotti, R. (2006). How do Italian footwear industrial districts face globalization? European Planning Studies, 14(4), 485–502.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • ASTP. (2019). ASTP 2019 survey report on knowledge transfer activities in Europe, Leiden, Netherlands. https://www.astp4kt.eu/resource-center/publications/.

  • Autio, E., Kenney, M., Mustar, P., Siegel, D., & Wright, M. (2014). Entrepreneurial innovation: The importance of context. Research Policy, 43(7), 1097–1108.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Balconi, M., Breschi, S., & Lissoni, F. (2004). Networks of inventors and the role of academia: An exploration of Italian patent data. Research Policy, 33(1), 127–145.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baldini, N., Grimaldi, R., & Sobrero, M. (2006). Institutional changes and the commercialization of academic knowledge: A study of Italian universities’ patenting activities between 1965 and 2002. Research Policy, 35(4), 518–532.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baldini, N., Grimaldi, R., & Sobrero, M. (2007). To patent or not to patent? A survey of Italian inventors on motivations, incentives and obstacles to university patenting. Scientometrics, 70(2), 333–354.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Becattini, G. (1990). The Marshallian industrial district as a socio-economic notion. In G. Becattini, F. Pyke, & W. Sengenberger (Eds.), Industrial districts and inter-firm cooperation in Italy (pp. 37–51). Geneva: International Labor Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Biagioli, M. (1993). Galileo, courtier: The practice of science in the culture of absolutism. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Bigliardi, B., Galati, F., Marolla, G., & Verbano, C. (2015). Factors affecting technology transfer offices’ performance in the Italian food context. Technology Analysis & Strategic Management, 27(4), 361–384.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Breschi, S., & Malerba, F. (1997). Sectoral innovation systems: technological regimes, Schumpeterian dynamics, and spatial boundaries. In C. Edquist (Ed.), Systems of Innovation: Technologies, Institutions and Organizations, (pp. 130–156). Oxon: Routledge.

  • Breznitz, D. (2020). Innovation in real places: Strategies for prosperity in an unforgiving world. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Camuffo, A., & Grandinetti, R. (2011). Italian industrial districts as cognitive systems: are they still reproducible? Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 23(9–10), 815–852.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carrozza, C., & Minucci, S. (2014). Keep on movin’? Research mobility’s meanings for Italian early-stage researchers. Higher Education Policy, 27(4), 489–508.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Christensen, B. C., & Kenney, M. (2016). The geography of places and their economic activities: Agriculture, regional identity and place-activity associations. Davis: University of California.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooke, P. (2001). Regional innovation systems, clusters, and the knowledge economy. Industrial and Corporate Change, 10(4), 945–974.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • D’Adda, D., Guzzini, E., Iacobucci, D., & Palloni, R. (2019). Is smart specialization strategy coherent with regional innovative capabilities? Regional Studies, 53(7), 1004–1016.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Massis, A., Di Minin, A., & Frattini, F. (2015). Family-driven innovation. California Management Review, 58(1), 5–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duran, P., Kammerlander, N., Van Essen, M., & Zellweger, T. (2016). Doing more with less: Innovation input and output in family firms. Academy of Management Journal, 59(4), 1224–1264.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fini, R., Grimaldi, R., Meoli, A. (2020). The effectiveness of university regulations to foster science-based entrepreneurship. Research Policy. (forthcoming)

  • Fini, R., Grimaldi, R., Santoni, S., & Sobrero, M. (2011). Complements or substitutes? The role of universities and local context in supporting the creation of academic spin-offs. Research Policy, 40(8), 1113–1127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gottardi, G. (1996). Technology strategies, innovation without R&D: And the creation of knowledge within industrial districts. Journal of Industry Studies, 3(2), 119–134.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grimpe, C., & Sofka, W. (2009). Search patterns and absorptive capacity: Low-and high-technology sectors in European countries. Research Policy, 38(3), 495–506.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kenney, M. (1988). Biotechnology: The University-industrial complex. New Haven: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kenney, M., & Mowery, D. (2014). Public universities and regional development: Insights from the University of California. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kenney, M., & Patton, D. (2005). Entrepreneurial geographies: Support networks in three high-technology industries. Economic Geography, 81(2), 201–228.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lafuente, E., & Berbegal-Mirabent, J. (2019). Assessing the productivity of technology transfer offices: An analysis of the relevance of aspiration performance and portfolio complexity. Journal of Technology Transfer, 44(3), 778–801.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lazzeretti, L., & Oliva, S. (2018). Rethinking city transformation: Florence from art city to creative fashion city. European Planning Studies, 26(9), 1856–1873.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lazzeroni, M. (2010). High-tech activities, system innovativeness and geographical concentration: Insights into technological districts in Italy. European Urban and Regional Studies, 17(1), 45–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lazzeroni, M., & Piccaluga, A. (2015). Beyond ‘town and gown’: The role of the university in small and medium-sized cities. Industry and Higher Education, 29(1), 11–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lissoni, F., Pezzoni, M., Potì, B., & Romagnosi, S. (2013). University autonomy, the professor privilege and academic patenting: Italy, 1996–2007. Industry and Innovation, 20(5), 399–421.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Malerba, F. (1993). The national system of innovation: Italy. In R. Nelson (Ed.), National innovation systems: A comparative analysis (pp. 230–259). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Malerba, F., & Orsenigo, L. (2013). Technological innovation and international competitiveness in Italy. In Technological Innovations, Multinational Corporations and the New International Competitiveness (pp. 187–226). Oxon: Routledge.

  • Morrison, A., & Rabellotti, R. (2009). Knowledge and information networks in an Italian wine cluster. European Planning Studies, 17(7), 983–1006.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mueller, P. (2006). Exploring the knowledge filter: How entrepreneurship and university–industry relationships drive economic growth. Research Policy, 35(10), 1499–1508.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Munari, F., Sobrero, M., & Malipiero, A. (2012). Focal firms as technological gatekeepers within industrial districts: Knowledge creation and dissemination in the Italian packaging machinery industry”. Industrial and Corporate Change, 21, 429–462.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muscio, A. (2010). What drives the university use of technology transfer offices? Evidence from Italy. Journal of Technology Transfer, 35(2), 181–202.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muscio, A., & Nardone, G. (2012). The determinants of university—industry collaboration in food science in Italy. Food Policy, 37(6), 710–718.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muscio, A., Quaglione, D., & Ramaciotti, L. (2016). The effects of university rules on spinoff creation: The case of academia in Italy. Research Policy, 45(7), 1386–1396.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • OECD (2020) Gross domestic spending on R&D. Retrieved 21 March, 2020.

  • OECD, European Union. (2019). Supporting entrepreneurship and innovation in higher education in Italy, OECD Skills Studies. Paris: OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/43e88f48-en.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Santamaría, L., Nieto, M. J., & Barge-Gil, A. (2009). Beyond formal R&D: Taking advantage of other sources of innovation in low-and medium-technology industries. Research Policy, 38(3), 507–517.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sorensen, J., & Fassiotto, M. (2011). Organizations as fonts of entrepreneurship. Organization Science, 22(5), 1322–1331.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spithoven, A., Clarysse, B., & Knockaert, M. (2010). Building absorptive capacity to organise inbound open innovation in traditional industries. Technovation, 30(2), 130–141.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stasi, A., Muscio, A., Nardone, G., & Seccia, A. (2016). New technologies and sustainability in the Italian wine industry. Agriculture and Agricultural Science Procedia, 2, 290–297.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Traag, V. A., & Waltman, L. (2019). Systematica analysis of agreement between metrics and peer review in the UK REF. Palgrave Communications, 5, 29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trippl, M. (2011). Regional innovation systems and knowledge-sourcing activities in traditional industries—evidence from the Vienna food sector. Environment and Planning A, 43(7), 1599–1616.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tunisini, A., Bocconcelli, R., & Pagano, A. (2011). Is local sourcing out of fashion in the globalization era? Evidence from Italian mechanical industry. Industrial Marketing Management, 40(6), 1012–1023.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wright, M., Siegel, D. S., & Mustar, P. (2017). An emerging ecosystem for student start-ups. Journal of Technology Transfer, 42(4), 909–922.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The Special Issue editors thank Claudia Daniele for her assistance at all stages of this process. We also thank Melissa Mongan for editorial assistance.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    Rosa Grimaldi

  2. University of California, Davis, CA, USA

    Martin Kenney

  3. Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pisa, Italy

    Andrea Piccaluga

Authors
  1. Rosa Grimaldi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Martin Kenney
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Andrea Piccaluga
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rosa Grimaldi.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Grimaldi, R., Kenney, M. & Piccaluga, A. University technology transfer, regional specialization and local dynamics: lessons from Italy. J Technol Transf 46, 855–865 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10961-020-09804-7

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10961-020-09804-7

Keywords

JEL Classiication

Search

Navigation