Characteristics and evolution of China’s industry–university–research collaboration to promote the sustainable development: Based on policy text analysis

Abstract

Collaborative innovation is an effective way to realize national innovation and sustainable development. The Chinese government has issued a series of Industry–University–Research (IUR) policies and regulations in recent decades to effectively promote the development of national scientific and technological innovation. Exploring the characteristics and evolution of IUR collaborative policy is critical for the healthy development of IUR and subsequent policy formulation. In this study, we collected IUR policy texts at the national level of China from 1992 to 2020 as the research object. On the basis of policy tool theory, a three-dimensional analysis framework of “Policy tool–Policy theme–Evolution stage” was constructed and studied using content analysis and social network analysis methods. Through the quantitative statistical analysis, we find that China’s IUR policies have experienced four development stages. Among all policy tools, the supply-side IUR ones are sufficient, whereas demand-side policy tools are insufficient. The service system policy theme is lacking relative to other themes. In addition, the application of information technology (IT) policies is prominent. Therefore, we suggest optimizing the policy structure in combination with social characteristics and strengthening the establishment of service system innovation. Enhancing the role of IT to promote innovation policies is also recommended.