The open innovation perspective offers a powerful framework which can be used in developing an understanding of the relationships that are established between academia and industry in the process of technology transfer. This paper develops a fourfold classification of technology transfer activities based on consultancy and the protection of intellectual property rights, and identifies the factors characterizing each activity. An empirical study was conducted with a sample of 249 researchers affiliated to Italian universities and the results indicate that specific forms of technology transfer are associated with particular configurations of regional systems of innovation, academic organizations and the motivations of researchers. The authors find that exchanges of tacit knowledge benefit from social interaction, while those based on codified knowledge are less context-dependent. In addition, more complex forms of technology transfer – those combining tacit and codified knowledge – require a broader endowment of resources, at both individual and contextual levels.
