The knowledge transfer and cooperation between universities and enterprises

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. In order to achieve the objectives of the study, a questionnaire was administered through a telephone interview to 500 companies, distributed throughout Portugal. The empirical results show there is cooperation between companies and institutions of higher education when entrepreneurs are younger, and companies are located in urban areas such as Lisbon. This cooperation, which translates into the knowledge transfer, is conducive to greater innovation as well as greater financial performance.