Under the circumstances of poor performances of HSS research in most 211Us,
there are also some big gaps between 211Us in different regions. To eastern 211Us,
especially the JUs and OUs, their HSS research productivities are slightly
improved. However, to central 211Us, western 211Us, and HSZUs, their research
productivities are decreased more or less. To 211Us in all regions, growth effect
obtained from technical change is the general channel for all groups to improve
their research productivities, and the low-performance of TEC index, or more
specifically the PTEC index, is the major cause to the slowdown or decline.
6 Exploring Factors Impacting on Research Efficiency in“
In order to systematically explore the factors impacting on the research efficiency of
“211 Project”universities, we construct the indicator system to encompass most
variables that might have impact on university research efficiency. More specifi-
cally, this indicator system includes environmental indicators at macro level (e.g.
per capita GDP, Technology innovation index), sectoral and institutional indicators
(e.g. university reputation), internal indicators at micro level (e.g. ratio of female
staff, ratio of staff with doctor degree).
Based on the results of two-stage Tobit model, wefind that, there are consid-
erable regional differences between 211Us with respective to their research effi-
ciency, in particular, the NEAM research efficiency of JUs or HSZUs is
prominently higher than those of OUs. Furthermore, the NEAM research efficiency
in 211Us are positively associated with regional technology innovation, revealing
the interactions between NEAM research activities and local science and technol-
ogy innovations. However, the cooperation and sharing mechanism does not
function well between universities, especially in those regions gathering most
high-level 211Us, thus the cluster effect can’t be proved. The research efficiency of
211Us under MOE administration is lower than other 211Us, which is significant in
both NEAM and HSS samples.
Moreover, the structure of research staff has a relatively substantial impact on
211Us’research efficiency. In both NEAM and HSS disciplines, the ratio of female
staff has a significantly negative effect on research efficiency. In HSS disciplines,
the ratio of staff with doctor degree has a significantly positive effect on research
efficiency. This reminds us to pay attention to the issues of scientific productivity of
female researchers and faculty professional development in Chinese research
universities.
7.1 Concluding Remarks 297