An empirical study on university R&D and regional economic growth

Research and Development (R&D) is one major source of creating new knowledge and improving technology, and has a deep influence over economic development. Through a factor-analysis of the comprehensive indexes that compose economic growth, and through a regression analysis and a cluster analysis of R&D related data from 31 provinces in China, we found that the patent output of universities significantly promotes regional economic growth, that the R&D financial and personnel investments do not significantly boost regional economy, that basic researches at universities are very important to economic development, that R&D input from universities are not directly proportioned to its output, and that there is a big difference between different regions in what R&D can do towards bringing financial benefits. Therefore we propose that in the level of policy making they emphasize basic researches, encourage R&D cooperation between universities and enterprises, enhance the effectiveness of the usage of R&D financial funds, and improve researchers´ working efficiency, strengthen cooperation between regions, in order to create a more harmonious relationship between university R&D and regional economic development.