Emphasising the level of the observation of university configurations and the example of academic entrepreneurship, the author analyses the drivers of economic returns of public research in France. Based on the study of national public policy in this field since 1999 and a general survey of the paths of researchers-entrepreneurs, the article highlights the weight of political and scientific logics. It also shows that behind the justification of promoting the knowledge economy lies a commercialisation of knowledge that underpins a process to defend the interests of a public research sector in support of mixed mercantile, managerial and professional and scientific logics.