Does geographical proximity still matter for innovation? Notes on university-industry interaction from the perspective of a peripheral context

Interactions between universities and industry are essential for innovation systems, whereby the process is catalyzed by proximity these actors in different dimensions (cognitive, organizational, social, institutional geographical). The present paper seeks to investigate specific importance of geographical university-industry interactions during a moment Brazil’s peripheral socioeconomic formation, with construction an framework that proved favorable advancement information communication technologies would dispense co-location face-to-face contact collective learning processes. By applying multiple linear regression analysis smallest space (SSA) database obtained from extensive survey, it was observed that, associated cognitive dimension, still prevails contexts.