Collaboration between universities and micro, small and medium firms: A structured literature review

This paper aims to provide a new perspective on the collaboration between Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (M&SMEs) and universities. It seeks to address a gap in the existing literature, which predominantly focuses on the analysis of collaboration between large firms and universities. This partnership is widely regarded as mutually beneficial, as M&SMEs can gain a competitive edge through innovation, while universities could leverage research outcomes and refine their academic programs. The study adopts a systematic literature review methodology and conducts a thematic analysis of articles obtained from the Scopus and Web of Science databases, employing an integrated interpretative framework based on six different perspectives: (1) who (involved actors); (2) what (collaboration inputs and outputs); (3) when (analyzed time span); (4) where (countries); (5) how (implemented collaboration modes); and (6) why (drivers, enabling factors and barriers). A total number of 82 journal articles published between 1987 and 2023 were analyzed. Based on the adopted interpretative framework, a lack of a shared conceptualization of the investigated phenomenon emerged and is associated with a relatively scarce adoption of theoretical frameworks. Moreover, a highly differentiated set of barriers and enabling factors were found, even if their interdependencies appear rarely investigated.