Entrepreneurial intent and entrepreneurial commitment of young researchers

The creation of an academic spin-off represents one of the ways to implement the technology transfer process from university to firms. Although in Italy the preference for this form of valorization of scientific research has increased in recent years, the gap compared with the main EU countries remains wide. In our view, the main problem related to the development of academic spin-offs, concerns the concept of entrepreneurial commitment, here understood as the complex of decisions and actions which bind the would-be entrepreneur to the fate of his venture. Entrepreneurial commitment should be seen as a different concept from entrepreneurial intention which could be considered as the will of a person to start a new business. In our opinion, entrepreneurial intention has a role in the make-up of entrepreneurial commitment but other elements also have to be considered. Eventually, such elements may impede the formation of the entrepreneurial commitment of the would-be entrepreneur or at least weaken it. The article investigates the elements that qualify entrepreneurial intention and those which play a predominant role in developing the same into entrepreneurial commitment.