Investigating the factors driving bidirectional relationships between universities and public research institutes, and Brazilian small and medium-sized enterprises

Objective: investigating the factors driving bidirectional relationships (i.e., “scientific research with considerations towards the immediate use of results” and “scientific research without considerations towards the immediate use of results”) established between research groups (RGs) and Brazilian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Methodology/approach: estimating four logistic regression models to investigate the factors driving bidirectional relationships between RGs from the Brazilian Directory of Research Groups (DRGs) of the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development and 1,819 companies with up to 499 employees. Main results: the economic sector and the access to public funding can influence the establishment of bidirectional relationships between RGs and SMEs. Some specificities of factors driving bidirectional relationships are identified in SMEs’ different size ranges. Theoretical/methodological contributions: adopting a comprehensive database on collaborations between RGs and SMEs, based on information deriving from the Directory of Research Groups and from the Annual Report of Social Information, and approaching to a topic that remains poorly investigated in the literature. Relevance/originality: assessing how different driver categories influence the establishment of bidirectional relationships between RGs and SMEs and featuring the factors driving these relationships in interactive companies’ different size ranges. Social/Management Contributions: Innovation policy should address the factors driving knowledge-related cooperation between public research organizations and SMEs.