Shanghai, where also the very regions with highest university density. In a more
recent study, Wang et al. ( 2004 ) built a DEA model to evaluate the benefits of
intra-region and inter-region cooperation among universities. Theirfindings con-
firmed that between-university cooperation could improve the utilization of
resources, and bring more benefits to those universities with moderate research
capacities.
To date, there are comparatively few studies directly focusing on the impacts of
university cluster on research activities. Among these studies, most of them are
focused on the causes and traits of university cluster, only a small part of them
discussing the impacts of sharing teaching facilities and library resources between
clustered universities. From the studies done by Chinese researchers, there are
several points can be made. First, cluster is good for universities to share facilities,
and thus lower costs. If clustered universities could share their facilities like lab-
oratories and libraries, these universities would lower their cost and operate on a
more efficient scale (Huang 2005 ; Sha 2007 ; Yang 2008 ). Second, clustered uni-
versities are easier to attract high-profile talents, and thus to facilitate the innovation
in concept and practice. It’s pointed out by researchers that, a place where many
universities are gathered around, will be attractive to high-level researchers, and
will be easy to establish a regional brand to attract excellent teachers, researchers,
and students (Sha 2007 ;Pan 2008 ), and will facilitate science and technology
innovations with higher human capital (Huang 2005 ). Meanwhile, cluster is easier
for universities to communicate with each other, and much easier for staff from
different universities to share their ideas more frequently and deeply in the aspects
of information, staff, and thus facilitate their cooperation and division in research
(Xiao 2006 ;Sha 2007 ). Third, cluster is good for universities to jointly conduct
in-depth collaborations. The clustered universities can jointly apply for national key
laboratory and jointly establish national university science park (Ren and Wu
2004 ), to shape the advantage of knowledge cluster, and become the regional core
of innovation activities Pan ( 2008 ).
6.1.2 Sectoral and Institutional Factors....................
According to related studies from home and abroad, some sectoral and institutional
factors impacting university research efficiency include research team and platform,
international cooperation and communication, university prestige, research incen-
tive, and so on. Stepping into the 1960s, research activity is transformed from
individual behavior to teamwork, and the latter has gradually become the main-
stream mode for today’s research. Under the circumstances of globalization,
international cooperation and communication are becoming more popular in
research activities, and play a key role in determining the quantity and quality of
university research results. Furthermore, internal and external incentive systems not
only put direct impacts on individual staff, but also on the efficiency state of the
whole university.
264 6 Exploring Factors Impacting on Research Efficiency...