上移抑或稳定:高等教育层次结构影响中美区域创新的实证研究

Upward Shift or Stabilization?An Empirical Study of the Impact of Higher Education Hierarchy on Regional Innovation in China and the United States

高等教育的层次重心会随着高等教育普及化和经济增长而上移,为加快建设人才中心和创新高地,调整高等教育“区域-层次”的矩阵结构势在必行。基于我国省域和美国州域面板数据发现:相比于美国,我国主要创新区域的研究生教育规模和占比均存在明显差距,省域高等教育层次重心普遍偏低;高等教育层次结构对区域创新具有“扁N型”影响,即正效应随着研究生教育占比升高先减弱,经拐点后再增强;拐点集中于30%附近,美国多数州域已接近拐点,层次结构趋于稳定,而我国多数省域仍有较大的层次抬升潜力。为此,不同地区需要科学定位,合理调控高等教育结构;多数地区均应稳步抬升高等教育层次;应在创新优势地区优先布局研究生教育增量以支撑创新高地建设。

The center of gravity of higher education level will shift upward with the popularization of higher education and economic growth.In order to accelerate the construction of the talent center and innovation highlands,it is imperative to adjust the"region-level"matrix structure of higher education.Based on China's provincial and U.S.'s state-level panel data,it is found that the scale and proportion of graduate education in China's major innovation regions have obvious gaps compared with the U.S.,and the center of gravity of higher education levels in provincial regions is generally low;higher education hierarchy has a"flat-N"influence on regional innovation,the positive effect decreases with the proportion of graduate education,and then decreases after the inflection point.That is,the positive effect is weakened firstly with the increase in the proportion of graduate education,and then strengthened after the inflection point;the inflection point is concentrated around 30%,and most of the U.S.states are close to the inflection point,and the hierarchical structure tends to be stabilized,while most of China's provinces and regions still have a greater potential for the hierarchical upgrading.For this reason,different regions need to position themselves scientifically and reasonably regulate the structure of higher education;most regions should steadily raise the level of higher education;and priority should be given to the layout of incremental postgraduate education in regions with innovative advantages in order to promote the construction of innovation highlands.