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- Cooperation between Universities and Small and Medium-sized Firms as a Vehicle for the Regional Development: A Mixed-Method Study in Brazilian ContextPublication . Pereira, Maria Rosivalda da Silva; Franco, Mário José BaptistaUniversity-firm (U-F) cooperation studies the relations formed between these two types of institutions/organisations as a driver of regional development, emphasizing the greater proximity between the results produced at the university and society’s needs, as well as policies for commercializing research. In general, this topic has been explored in three main dimensions: motivations, obstacles, and channels of knowledge transfer. These approaches capture the complexity of this type of U-F cooperation, which is concentrated on interactions with large firms, but ignoring the particularities of cooperation between small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and academic researchers. However, this firm segment represents an important source of integration between the university and the region, as these SMEs stimulate national and regional economies through job creation and innovation. Therefore, this research aims to explore the cooperative relation between a university and SMEs in a region of Brazil with low technological development. To achieve this general objective, four specific objectives were defined: (1) present the relation between universities and SMEs through a systematic literature review (SLR); (2) propose a conceptual model of analysis of university-firm cooperation with regional development; (3) understand university-firm cooperation in a Brazilian higher education institution situated in a region of low technological density, and; (4) explore the relations formed between the university and SMEs located in a region of low socio-economic development. To respond to these objectives, a mixed research methodology was followed, since the quantitative and qualitative approaches complement each other, particularly regarding internal and external validity, where different research techniques of a deductive and inductive nature were used. In the first stage, an SLR identified the characteristics of cooperation between universities and SMEs. This identified the absence of studies on this topic in regions of low technological development and the importance of this type of cooperation for regional development. Consequently, another study proposed a conceptual model seeking to identify the benefits of U-F cooperation for a region, setting out from human resources’ qualification, the development of new products or processes, employability, and even new relations. This identification is possible from the perspective of those involved in a cooperative relation: university and SMEs. Identification of the benefits from the perspective of the actors involved allows greater awareness of how these results can be transported to the cooperative relation with more wide-ranging benefits for the region. At the second stage, two empirical studies were made to respond to objectives 3 and 4. The first, of a qualitative nature, explored the cooperative relations between researchers and businesspeople in SMEs. The data were collected through interviews held remotely and analysed through the technique of Descending Hierarchical Classification (DHC) and using Iramuteq v. 0.7 Alpha 2 software. Although the researchers establish cooperative relations with firms and the institution, the results show there is no support to develop this activity, i.e., no institutional policy directed towards U-SME cooperation is identified. The institutional environment the researchers and businesspeople belong to is relevant both in forming cooperation relations and in the obstacles underlying this type of process. However, the absence of this type of policy leads researchers to identify possible partners for cooperation through geographical, technological, and institutional proximity. As for firms, they find their partners at the university from their social relations. The common barriers found by these actors are associated with the time taken and academic bureaucracy. More specifically, researchers indicate that their career plan prevents them from forming cooperative activities with firms more quickly, this situation being a barrier to cooperation. Firm profess a lack of knowledge about the possibilities of developing cooperation with universities. The second study, of a quantitative nature, was based on a questionnaire adapted from previous studies and distributed electronically and personally to a sample of SMEs selected through the snowballing technique, formed of 336 firms that had entered any cooperative relation with universities in the last five years. The data were analysed using R-package, psych R-package, and Excel®. The results show that inter-personal relations interfere in the type of cooperation formed, these being a catalyst in formalizing cooperation. The firms formed cooperative relations with universities situated in the same geographical area. These relations also interfere in the perception of barriers and benefits of cooperation for the firm. These benefits are felt more intensely by businesspeople who formed formal cooperation agreements, with barriers being fewer in this situation. The results also show that U-F cooperation is perceived as a driver of regional development. Specifically, these benefits of cooperation result from the transfer of knowledge originating in teaching activities, both by absorbing a qualified workforce and qualifying those already in the labour market, as well as students’ work placements in firms and consultancy hired by firms to solve occasional problems in their business and to develop new products and processes. On the other hand, it was found that personal relationships were considered important for the start of the cooperation process, and influence the type of cooperation formed, as well as the perception of the benefits and barriers found in this process. The type of cooperation, in turn, influences the entrepreneurs’ perception about the results that U-SME cooperation provides for the development of the region. Overall, the study emphasizes the importance of personal relationships in all aspects of U-SME cooperation and the potential for these relationships to limit the scope of cooperation if they are not expanded beyond previous personal connections. By studying U-SME cooperation associated with regional development, this research also contributes to knowledge of this type of cooperative relation. Especially, it highlights that the formation of cooperation can be supported by personal relations already established between the parts and its formalization, despite that previous relation arising informally. The formalization of cooperation is seen to be important not only through establishing the terms of cooperation, but specifically, through perception of the benefits U-SME cooperation brings to the region.