University is becoming the beam of the new emerging mode of governance of the generation and dissemination of knowledge as it reveals remarkable institutional advantages both to provide a solution to the knowledge trade-off and to reduce agency costs.
The typical academic labor relation emerges as an appropriate institutional device to handle the principal-agent problems when creative talents are required.

The unique quasi-hierarchical setup of the academic system creates the supply of certified skills that are ready to operate on a professional base. Such academic consultants can be paid on an ex-post per job base matching their variable costs only. This supply leads to the creation of a specific market for research services where the demand is provided by the knowledge outsourcing of corporations.