Why do university researchers decide to start-up a new venture in Italy? This is one of the questions a group of researchers try to answer with their study, published on the Journal of Technology Transfer. Outside Italy, especially in the US, the industry and the external context are very important in determining the creation of academic spin-offs. In particular, the opportunities for commercial exploitation offered by specific industries strongly influence the birth rate of academic spin-offs. Not so in Italy. Through the empirical analysis on a sample of 88 Italian academics involved in the creation of 47 spin-offs between 1999 and 2005 they show that academics involvement in creating new ventures is not driven by an entrepreneurial attitude, but rather by the expectation of generating results which will enhance their academic position.

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