TY  - JOUR
TI  - The Dynamics of University-Industry Interactions in Peripheral Contexts: Evidence from Brazil
T2  - Foresight and STI Governance
IS  - Foresight and STI Governance
KW  - knowledge flows
KW  - innovation ecosystems
KW  - entrepreneurial university
KW  - technology transfer
KW  - developing countries
KW  - Brazil
KW  - university-industry interactions
AB  - This research aims at addressing the factors that constrain the flow of knowledge between universities and industry when these players are embedded in peripheral contexts. A multiple-case study was carried out in order to describe and understand the limitations of universities as agents of innovation in peripheral ecosystems. Twenty-two semi-structured interviews were conducted with the coordinators of five Technological Innovation Centers (entities equivalent to TTO) of all Federal Institutes (five) located in the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The findings show that there are constraining elements associated with the socioeconomic environment (the lack of economic dynamism and low absorptive capacity at firms), with universities (a lack of infrastructure, resources, and available researchers) and intermediary agents (the lack of staff and institutional legitimacy). The observed conditions lead to challenges in fostering dense knowledge flows, thus perpetuating regional economic asymmetries and hindering the institutional evolution of academic institutions toward the notion of entrepreneurial universities. Our research contributes to literature by addressing in detail the limitations of universities in spurring dense innovation networks in laggard ecosystems. Instead, more complex co-evolutionary processes seem to be at play - and "silver bullet" policies are likely to offer disappointing results.
AU  - Paulo Aparecido-Tomaz
AU  - Bruno Fischer
AU  - Dirk Meissner
AU  - Paola Rücker Schaeffer
UR  - https://foresight-journal.hse.ru/en/2022-16-4/801307291.html
PY  - 2022
SP  - 59-69
VL  - 16