Mario Coccia 
Ceris-CNR

Aim of this paper is to analyse the users of technology transfer from Cnr Institutes of the Piedmont region in the 1996-1998 period. This work uses the data from the balance sheets (e.g.: turnover, etc.) of the Institutes. The descriptive analysis shows that the private adopters (e.g.: firms and individual entrepreneurs) absorb technologies from Institutes belonging to the technological area because they can be used for industrial purposes. On the contrary the public adopters (Institutions, EU, government body, etc.) absorb technologies from Institutes of other area (economics, physics, geology, etc.) because these can be used in the solution to social problems (economic growth, reduction of unemployment, reduction of pollution, etc.). The technology transfer absorption indices built show that the public users have a higher value than private receptors (firms, etc.).

Jel Classification: C13, C60, C 90, O32, O38
Key words: Adopter, Absorption Indices, Receptor Subjects, Technology Transfer, Users