University Knowledge Spillover and Research Fund Allocation: A Balance Between Funding for Frontier Research and Funding for Regional Development
Zhu Xiwei1, You Yong1, Wu Yiyun2, Luo Deming1
1.Center for Research for Private Economy, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China 2.School of Economics, Zhejiang University of Finance & Economics, Hangzhou 310018, China
Abstract：Universities, as the producer and disseminator of knowledge, have knowledge spillover effects on enterprises, promoting enterprise innovation and regional economic development. We established a concise quantitative spatial economic model to explain the spillover effects of universities on enterprise innovation and its transmission mechanism. We then tried to establish a welfare analysis framework in order to explore the social welfare implications of the university research funds allocated by the central government. Based on the theoretical model, we empirically tested the knowledge spillover effects and its heterogeneity of Chinese universities on industrial enterprise innovation at the micro level. In light of the theoretical model and empirical results, we further calibrated the parameters, and conducted a counterfactual analysis on the allocation of university research funds so as to discuss the social welfare effects of university knowledge spillover effects and possible optimal allocation schemes of university research funds. The research includes three main aspects as follows.First, this research, by introducing university knowledge spillover into the quantitative spatial economic model, described the micro-region-macro transmission mechanism which follows the sequence of university fund investment, enterprise innovation, regional development and social welfare. Our model also creatively abstracted the issue of balance between equity and efficiency faced by China as a large developing country in the allocation of research funds. Should the Chinese central government invest only in a few universities to help them develop into world-class universities to enhance China’s cutting-edge science and technology, or allocate research funds in a more balanced way to expand knowledge spillovers for regional coordinated development? Our theoretical model reveals that, in order to maximize social welfare, the central government should strike a balance between supporting some universities to catch up with and surpass world-class universities and coordinating regional development.Second, based on the theoretical model, the research deduced a structural econometric model and conducted an empirical analysis on Chinese Industrial Enterprises Database and University Science and Technology Statistics Collection. Therefore, our empirical research has expanded the scope and scale of relevant research to a greater degree. This paper is not only the first to study the knowledge spillover effects between all industrial enterprises and all undergraduate universities, but also makes a point-to-point calculation of the spatial distance and spatial spillover effect indexes of universities and enterprises with the use of Baidu Map API at the micro level, finally identifying the knowledge spillover effects of all undergraduate universities on industrial enterprises. The empirical research has not only proved that university knowledge spillover can significantly promote enterprise innovation, but also discovered that the knowledge spillover effects of universities are highly heterogeneous: the knowledge spillover effects of universities are highly correlated with their research funds; high-level research-oriented universities have stronger capacity of knowledge spillover, and high-tech industries and large enterprises benefit more from knowledge spillovers from universities.Finally, according to the results of empirical regression and existing research, the parameters were substituted into the general equilibrium model for calibration. Counterfactual analysis was then conducted based on the welfare analysis framework of the calibration model. The results have showed that there is a certain efficiency loss in the current allocation scheme of research funds which is more inclined to the eastern regions, and its adjustment can raise social welfare up to 1.3 percentage points.In summary, our research has, on the one hand, theoretically expounded the balance between catching up with the world-class universities to occupy the sci-tech height and expanding knowledge spillover for regional coordinated development. This has provided a theoretical basis for the central government when optimizing the allocation of university research funds. On the other hand, with the micro data of universities and enterprises, the research has effectively identified the spillover effects of university knowledge and its heterogeneity, and then evaluated the welfare differences of various fund allocation schemes, so as to provide realistic basis and data support for the optimal allocation of research funds in China’s higher education.
朱希伟, 游勇, 吴意云, 罗德明. 大学知识溢出与科技经费配置：“顶天”与“立地”的权衡[J]. 浙江大学学报(人文社会科学版), 2022, 52(6): 30-52.
Zhu Xiwei, You Yong, Wu Yiyun, Luo Deming. University Knowledge Spillover and Research Fund Allocation: A Balance Between Funding for Frontier Research and Funding for Regional Development. JOURNAL OF ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY, 2022, 52(6): 30-52.
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