Reorganizing Scientists, Redirecting Research: Evidence from Specialized Schools of Microelectronics

• In Event: Geography, Networks, and Regional Innovation

Abstract

Governments increasingly seek to direct research systems toward strategic and societal goals, yet evidence remains limited on whether mission-oriented university reforms actually redirect scientists’ research toward technological and industrial use. This paper examines that question in the context of China’s effort to strengthen organized scientific research in strategically important fields. Specifically, it evaluates whether the establishment of Demonstrative Schools of Microelectronics in Chinese universities increased the industrial relevance of academic research.The study focuses on a policy intervention launched from 2015 onward, under which selected universities established interdisciplinary Schools of Microelectronics to serve national strategic priorities in semiconductor research and innovation. These new units reorganized faculty across existing departments and created a mission-oriented research environment that linked academic work more closely to industry and national policy goals. This setting provides a useful test of whether internal organizational restructuring within universities can change scientists’ research trajectories even when their underlying research capacity remains relatively stable.The analysis draws on a sample of 474 scientists who were reassigned into newly established Schools of Microelectronics in 18 Chinese universities between 2015 and 2021. These scientists are linked to 29,304 journal articles and conference papers from Scopus and OpenAlex, combined with patent-to-paper citation data from the Patent-to-Paper Citations Database. To address selection bias, the study first uses knowledge mapping and propensity score matching to construct comparable “academic twins” based on pre-transfer research profiles, demographic characteristics, and prior scholarly trajectories. It then applies a staggered difference-in-differences design with scientist and year fixed effects to estimate the effect of organizational transfer on the technological relevance of academic research, measured by patent citations to papers.The results show that mission-oriented university reorganization significantly increases the technological relevance of academic research. After reassignment to a School of Microelectronics, scientists experience an increase of approximately16.5 percent in patent citations to their papers relative to matched counterparts. The analysis further identifies two mechanisms. First, reorganization is associated with a7.0 percent increase in industry–university collaborative publications, suggesting stronger links between academic researchers and firms. Second, it is associated with a19.4 percent increase in publications connected to National Key R&D Programs, indicating closer integration into state-led strategic research agendas.The effects are not uniform across institutional settings. They are stronger in higher-tier universities and weaker in universities that already possess alternative research platforms, such as national laboratories in related fields. This pattern suggests that mission-oriented reorganization is most effective where institutional capacity is strong but substitute organizational channels are limited.The paper contributes to innovation policy research by showing that university reorganization can reshape the direction and downstream use of academic research. More broadly, it provides evidence that organizational design within universities is an important policy lever for connecting scientific discovery to industrial innovation under mission-oriented governance.

Author

• yaxuan liu, Peking University
  Presenting Author