The triple helix system and regional entrepreneurship in China

ABSTRACT

The paper examines the influence of the Triple Helix system of university-industry-government collaboration on regional entrepreneurship in China. Utilizing proprietary survey data collected from industrial firms, academic institutions, and government agencies in five representative Chinese regions, the paper finds that interactions within the three spheres of the Triple Helix system in terms of trilateral collaboration, network relationship, and complementary synergies all have positive influences on regional entrepreneurship in China by shaping local entrepreneurial environment and fostering entrepreneurship activities. The paper also reveals significant regional differences in the functioning of the Triple Helix system. Specifically, the roles of trilateral collaboration and network relationship are more salient in developing regions, while complementary synergies are more effective in developed regions. This study contributes to the burgeoning literature on national and regional innovation systems by emphasizing the multifaceted effect of university-industry-government collaboration on promoting regional entrepreneurship. It also highlights the role of regional institutional context in affecting innovation and entrepreneurship processes.

KEYWORDS:

• Triple helix system
• university-industry-government collaboration
• regional entrepreneurship
• regional innovation system
• entrepreneurship environment
• knowledge-based economy
• China

Acknowledgments

This research is supported by the China National Social Science Fund Project (19BGL041), China Ministry of Education Project of Humanities and Social Science (18YJA630054), National Natural Science Foundation of China (71673048), Fujian Social Science Project (FJ2017B018), and Fujian Natural Science Foundation Project (2017J01515). We would also like to thank two anonymous reviewers, the editor, and conference participants at the 13th International Triple-Helix Conference held in Beijing, China in August, 2015 for valuable comments on  earlier versions of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Accessed from The State Council Information Office of the People’s Republic of China: www.scio.gov.cn.

2. More details on GEM could be obtained from http://www.gemconsortium.org/.

3. We utilize Version 20 of Analysis of Moment Structure (AMOS) software to conduct our analysis.

4. First, the value of normed Chi-square (χ2/df) is 2.596, which is less than the threshold level of 3 thus indicates a good model fit. In addition, the value of comparative fit index (CFI) is 0.908, which is greater than the threshold value of 0.9 and again supports the fitness of the model. Besides, the value of adjusted goodness-of-fit index (AGFI) is 0.842 and is greater than the acceptable level of 0.80 or above. Moreover, the value of root mean square residual (RMR) is 0.04. It met the criteria of <0.05 for a satisfying specification.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the China National Social Science Fund Project (19BGL041), China Ministry of Education Project of Humanities and Social Science (18YJA630054), National Natural Science Foundation of China (71673048), Fujian Social Science Project (FJ2017B018), and Fujian Natural Science Foundation Project (2017J01515).