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The authors' intention is to demonstrate how adopting a more precise interpretation of the term “institution” as used in the innovation studies literature provides a better understanding of the dynamic nature of an innovation system. The paper therefore focuses less on organisations and other key actors in Hong Kong's innovation system and more on the laws, rules, procedures, business practices, etc. that facilitate and govern such activity.

The paper adopts the term “innovation environment” to denote the institutional setting within which innovative activity is carried out in Hong Kong and reviews key elements of the innovation environment to note trends towards innovation‐oriented changes. Data and other descriptive information that informs the treatment of the innovation environment are based on interviews of diverse actors associated with Hong Kong's innovation system as well as research into an interdisciplinary body of literature.

The authors find that although there has been little evidence of substantial progress in the development of Hong Kong's innovation system, key elements of the innovation environment exhibit trends in the direction of a more robust use of innovation‐related resources to drive economic growth in the territory.

Apart from its focus on Hong Kong's innovation system, the paper advances innovation studies by demonstrating that its methodology of examining the innovation environment – the institutional setting in which key organisational actors carry out innovative activity – reveals the dynamism of an innovation system that might not emerge from a focus on organisations and other key actors.

The present paper seeks to illuminate the role played by university‐based technology transfer offices (TTOs) in driving the transfer of research‐based knowledge and technology from institutions of higher education to industry in Hong Kong.

Following a literature review, the authors use empirical data on technology transfer and innovation, and case studies of existing TTOs at City University of Hong Kong (City U) and Hong Kong University of Technology and Science (HKUST), to analyze and illustrate the changing nature of the role that TTOs have played in Hong Kong, from the late 1980s to the present.

It is found that, while TTOs originally served primarily to generate additional revenues for their affiliated universities through the creation and commercialization of intellectual property, that role has gradually evolved to support innovative start‐up companies through technology transfer.

This study is limited in having included only two case studies. In the future more cases should be examined, not only of other spin‐offs and start‐ups from City U and HKUST, but also from other Hong Kong universities as well. The study implies that TTOs should continue to learn how to respond to the needs of start‐ups through self‐evaluation. Universities should better manage TTOs, and the government, through better understanding of the capacity of TTOs to create spin‐offs, should develop policy measures that facilitate the process.

This study is among the first to examine the role of TTOs using a case‐study approach, especially in addressing the relationship between university‐industry linkages and the broader innovation system in Hong Kong.