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3 This paper examines the impact of universities on the technological performance of adjacent firms. We extend existing research by jointly analyzing, and comparing, the effects of education (graduates) and scientific research activities (publications) of universities on firms ’ technological performance. Adopting the Griliches-Jaffe knowledge production framework, our study is conducted at the regional level, employing panel data for 101 Italian provinces and four industries. Overall, fixed effect panel data models reveal a positive effect of both university graduates and publications on the technological performance of firms. At the same time, considerable industry differences are observed. While in electronic and electrical industries both graduates and publications affect the technological performance of firms, chemical and mechanical industries only benefit from graduates, while the opposite holds for pharmaceutical firms. Combined these findings suggest that the impact of different academic activities is contingent on the industrial texture of regions in which universities are embedded