基础研究投入的创新转化——基于国家自然科学基金资助的证据

Basic Research Funding,Knowledge Dissemination and Innovation Transformation——Evidence from NSFC Funding

本文刻画了以国家自然科学基金(简称自科)为代表的基础研究投入在知识创新和转化过程中的作用。通过匹配城市学科年份的自科资助和各创新主体的专利数据,发现自科资助不仅能提升知识传播链上游高校部门的专利产出,还会通过校企联合研发的途径,进一步向下游企业主体传播和转化。在自科基金的分类资助体系中,为我国未来科技创新奠定人才基础的人才项目系列,特别是其中的青年科学基金项目,在知识链中的传播路径最长,向专利的转化效率最高。

We examine the role of basic research funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China(NSFC) in knowledge dissemination and innovation transformation. Based on a matched dataset containing NSFC funding and patent information from 1997 to 2009 in 168 cities and 7 fields, we find that NSFC funding not only stimulates academic patenting, but also increases both the quantity and quality of patents filed in firms. One of the important channels of such knowledge spillover is through the cooperation between universities and firms. Among the various NSFC projects, the talent projects aiming at cultivating talents for future scientific and technological development, especially for youth, perform the best.