The role of geographic proximity for university- industry linkages in Brazil: an empirical analysis

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyse the role of geographic proximity in the occurrence of university - industry linkages. The main argument is that university - industry linkages are strongly localized, which suggests that geographic proximity between academic research and firms’ research and development ( R&D ) facilities matters in fostering university - industry linkages. Interactions between university and industry in Brazil were analysed using data from the Census 2004 - Directory of Research Groups . Using this data it was possible to gather information on 2 108 academic research groups that interact with 3 068 firms. From the location of both firms and university research groups, it was possible to analyse the spatial pattern of university - industry linkages in Brazil, and the differences among knowledge areas. The results of the empirical analysis show that geographic proximity matters for the cooperation between firms and academic research groups. In addition, significant differences among knowledge areas imply different location patterns in university - industry linkage