Research On The Evaluation And Improvement Path Of Humanities And Social Sciences Research Efficiency In Provincial Universities In China

Research in humanities and social sciences plays an important role in the development of scientific research in universities,providing a solid foundation for creating "research-strong" universities and enhancing the competitiveness of humanities and social sciences.According to statistics from the Chinese Universities Humanities and Social Sciences Information Network,the development funds and number of social science personnel in Chinese universities have shown a growing trend in recent years.However,there are still problems in the allocation of research resources and the low efficiency of research input and output in Chinese universities’ humanities and social sciences research.In recent years,the country has implemented the Prosperity Plan for Philosophy and Social Sciences in Higher Education to strengthen the disciplinary construction of humanities and social sciences in universities,promoting innovation and development in humanities and social sciences research.Therefore,measuring the efficiency of humanities and social sciences research in each province’s universities,exploring the factors that affect the efficiency of humanities and social sciences research in universities,and identifying the formation path of high-efficiency humanities and social sciences research in provincial universities are of great significance in improving the efficiency of humanities and social sciences research in Chinese provincial universities.Based on relevant theoretical foundations,this article first conducts a literature review on the measurement of humanities and social sciences research efficiency and the factors affecting humanities and social sciences research efficiency,analyzing the current development status of humanities and social sciences research in Chinese universities.Secondly,considering research input from the perspectives of human resources,financial resources,and material resources,and research output from the perspectives of academic and social benefits,a comprehensive indicator system for research input and output of humanities and social sciences in universities is constructed.The DEA-BCC model and Malmquist index are then used to statically and dynamically measure and evaluate the efficiency of humanities and social sciences research in 31 provincial universities in China from 2012 to 2020.Finally,using configurational thinking and the fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis method,a multi-path exploration of the efficiency of humanities and social sciences research in universities is conducted from two dimensions,internal and external factors.The research results show that:(1)There are significant regional differences in the efficiency of humanities and social sciences research in universities across provinces,reflecting the irrationality in the input and output of resources in this field.From 2012 to 2020,the average total factor productivity(TFP)of humanities and social sciences research in universities was 0.946,and the combined effect of technical efficiency and progress index hindered the growth of TFP.(2)The efficiency of humanities and social sciences research in universities is influenced by two dimensions,internal and external factors,and a single conditional variable is difficult to be a necessary condition for improving the efficiency of humanities and social sciences research in universities,but good quality of research talents has a universal effect on improving the efficiency.(3)There are six pathways to improve the research efficiency of humanities and social sciences in provincial universities,which can be classified into four types: talent-government dual-drive type,talent-economy dual-drive type,talent-incentive dual-drive type,and multi-drive type.