THE IMPORTANCE OF HIGHER EDUCATION FOR INNOVATION: THE CHINESE EXAMPLE

Abstract

In the last two decades, the Chinese Communist Party has released in its official plans the importance of national innovation for the country’s socioeconomic development and, in this context, the relevance of the performance of higher education institutions to the national innovation system. To understand the relationship connecting higher education and innovation, this article provides an overview of the literature, and, using an econometric methodology, concludes that not only the increase in the number of graduates, but also the improvement in the quality of higher education are important to explain the growth of innovation indicators in Chinese provinces.