Inter-organizational scientific collaborations and policy effects: an ego-network evolutionary perspective of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

The formation, evolution, and dynamics of Industry–University–Research Institute (IUR) scientific collaborations in China have not been uncovered fully in extant literature. This study seeks to fill this research gap based on a novel sample of the China Academy of Sciences (CAS) from an ego-network perspective and especially reveals the guiding role of government policies. By taking the inter-organizational scientific collaboration systems of the CAS with enterprises and universities as a proxy for IUR collaborations in China, we explore the dynamic evolution and characteristics of the IUR collaboration networks in China during the period from 1978 to 2015. Our study reveals a simultaneous trend in accordance with the effects of the government’s science and technology (S&T) policies on shaping the linkages among public research institutes, enterprises and universities during the last several decades. In particular, we find that S&T policies issued by the government may affect the dynamic evolution of the small-world structure in the scientific collaboration networks of public research institutes with enterprises and universities over time. This study enriches the empirical research on IUR collaborations in the context of China by examining the patterns of bilateral or trilateral collaborations between and among CAS with industries and universities around this country, which not only contributes to understanding the dynamic evolution of China’s IUR collaborations in the context of a series of government S&T policies but also helps deepen our understanding of the characteristics of China’s national innovation system.