Perceived Obstacles to University–Industry Collaboration: Results from a Qualitative Survey of Italian Academic Departments

Although universities are generally under pressure to increase their interactions with industry, academic departments vary enormously in the extent to which they collaborate with businesses. There are several factors, which, to different extents, drive or hamper academics’ capabilities to engage in collaboration with the private sector. On the basis of original data from interviews with 197 university departments in Italy, this paper investigates the main obstacles to technology transfer activity as perceived by academic researchers, and their possible impact on university–industry collaborations. The analysis shows that three (out of four) perceived obstacles are barriers to university–industry interactions and negatively affect the probability of engaging in collaboration with industry. The estimated impact of these perceived obstacles on the frequency of collaborations is less clear-cut and requires further investigation.