Measuring the Performance of Knowledge Value-Added in University-Industry Collaborative Innovation

Abstract

Universities play an important role as a source of fundamental knowledge and, occasionally, relevant industrial technology in modern knowledge-based economies. Universities are the main knowledge dissemination and innovation places in national innovation system (NIS). Higher education in China has played an important role in the nation’s economy, science progress, and social development by bringing up a large scale of advanced talents and experts for the construction of socialist modernization. In 2015, all together there were 2560 higher education institutions (HEIs), among which 1219 were universities, 275 were independent colleges, and 1341 were higher vocational colleges. There were also 292 higher education institutions for adults. In 2015, the total number of new entrant admitted by and the total enrollment of undergraduates in regular HEIs were, respectively, 7,378,495 and 26,252,968. The total number of new entrants admitted by and the total enrollment of postgraduates in regular HEIs were, respectively, 645,055 and 1,911,406. The total number of new entrants admitted by and the total enrollment of new recruitments and the total enrollment of adult higher education institutions were 2,367,455 and 6,359,352. China spent nearly 3.9 trillion yuan (565.6 billion) on education in 2016, an increase of 7.57% from 2015, according to preliminary statistics released by the Ministry of Education. Expenditure for higher education exceeded 1 trillion yuan, up 6.22% from 2015. Every year, universities input a great deal of knowledge and employ teachers and researchers to create new knowledge value on the original knowledge basis in order to achieve knowledge value-added through knowledge accumulation, knowledge sharing, knowledge internalization, and other knowledge-based activities. Universities also input a large number of knowledge resources to create new knowledge in order to improve the university knowledge stock. In view of this, it is important to discuss the efficiency of university knowledge value-added to find out the influence factors of this value added. It will help universities to optimize their allocation of knowledge resources so as to achieve highly effective knowledge value-added efficiency.