Empirical Research On The Correlation Between Research University And Regional Economic Development

Higher education is increasingly significant in the era of knowledge economy, while research universities are playing a more important role in the local knowledge innovation system. Today, research universities have built new relations with the government and industries by enlarging the traditional functions of teaching and research. Furthermore, they are actively engaged in innovation activities and improving the quality of R&D by establishing research centers, spin-off businesses and technology transfer offices. Therefore, research universities can be assumed as a key part of the local knowledge innovation system, with the responsibility of promoting the national and local economic development.This dissertation is dedicated to illustrate the relationship among research universities and the local economic development by using different research methods of theoretical analysis, quantitative approach and case study. Michigan University and Stanford University are introduced as successful examples with qualitative analysis. Based on that, some advices are proposed on how research universities can contribute more to the development of the local economy.In this research, quantitative approaches are employed to explore the quantitative relationship between research universities and the local economic development, demonstrate the relations in quantitative ways, and provide suggestions on the basis of selected representative sample universities in Shanghai.In cases study part, Shanghai Jiao Tong University is selected as the representative of research universities in Shanghai. The contributions of SJTU to local economic development have been examined deeply in details. In the end, some suggestions are provided for research universities to improve their services of to Shanghai's economy, according to the theoretical and cases analysis of research universities and local economy development.