Research Funding and Its Effects on Academic Research under China' s University Governance System 中国大学治理体制下的科研经费及其对学术研究的影响研究

• In Event: Chinese roundtable II (Sponsored by SIG: East Asia)
  In Chinese Round-table Session: The impact evaluation of educational polices for promoting balanced development in China 在中国促进教育均衡发展的教育政策影响评估

Proposal

To transform the bureaucratic system and establish a modern university governance system is an important goal for higher education reform in China, however, it may be at odds with to goal to enhance university’s research competence. This study aims to examine the research productivity under different governance systems, focusing on the role of research funding from government and non-government sectors. Taking a sample of faculty members from 30 public universities in China, we first examined the relationship between governance characteristics and research funding received by individual faculty members, and then we explored the effects of research funding from different sources on research outputs. The findings reveal different research production modes under the university governance system. A bureaucratic governance system has a positive relationship with the amount of government funding, which contributes to academic publications and patents. On the other hand, a collegial governance model has no significant effect on government funding, but it has a mild positive relationship with non-governmental funding, which could contribute to the commercialization and application of scientific research. According to our study, it is suggested to give some autonomy to each higher education institution to explore its own governance model. Policymakers should consider various external resources and the internal limitations that impede research development of its university.

建立现代大学治理体系，改变行政化的大学治理是当前中国高等教育改革的重要目标之一，然而该目标也可能和提升大学研究竞争力的目标相左。本研究考察在不同治理体制下的科研产出，重点关注其中来自政府和非政府部门的科研经费投入的作用。研究基于来自30所公立大学的教师调查分析，本研究首先考察了大学治理特征和研究者获得的研究经费的关系，然后探索了不同来源经费对科研产出的作用。分析发现不同的治理体系下大学的科研产出方式有所差异。官僚制体系带来了较多的政府经费，进而促进科研发表和专利的形成。另一方面，学院式治理体系则与教师获得政府经费没有显著的关系，但和非政府的经费存在微弱的正向关系，而非政府经费有利于专利和技术转化的形成。根据本研究结论，建议在改革大学治理体系时给予大学更大的自主权。政策制定者需要综合考虑大学的各类外部资源以及内部限制研究发展的因素。

Author

• Xi Yang, Shanghai Jiao Tong University