Cooperation University–Industry: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Knowledge and its transference are increasingly viewed as key factors of companies’ competitiveness. In this sense, our research aims to analyze how the knowledge transfer takes place between the higher education sector and the companies. Although there has been an increase in research related to University–Industry (U–I) cooperation, the existing literature is still relatively fragmented and lacks a comprehensive view. In this way, this study aims to fill this gap by reducing the existing gap in the literature. Thus, this study aims at identifying the different trends and themes prevailing in the literature on U–I cooperation. Through a systematic literature review, using a bibliometric analysis, we identify four themes: (1) Triple Helix, (2) Knowledge Transfer, (3) Determinants of Cooperation and (4) Strategic Alliances. This research makes several important contributions: this review helps highlight not only what the previous literature has analyzed about cooperation between U–I but also prepares the ground for the second wave of research on this topic, synthesizing the main gaps in knowledge and the emerging trends in studies. Another contribution is the challenge of several prevailing theoretical/conceptual assumptions in cooperation between U–I and offering new theoretical/conceptual perspectives that may shape future research on this topic. Last but not the least, this paper defines a roadmap for a future research agenda by proposing multiple directions that can open new avenues for future research and the construction of relevant and appropriate theories for measuring the contributions of cooperation between U–I.