Effectiveness evaluation of knowledge spillovers in the Triple Helix innovative mode — A case study of “3-zone interaction” in Dalian

The purpose of this paper is to evalue the effectiveness of the university-based knowledge spillovers in the Triple Helix innovative mode of university-industry-government relations. The data of industrial enterprises of Dalian High-Tech Industrial Park, R&D zone and Dalian University of Technology from 1999 to 2009 was analyzed. Then, based on the improved knowledge production function, the estimation was made using OLS as well as 2SLS regression. The results proved the hypothesis, which is the regional innovative system can benefit from university-based knowledge spillovers, especially from the tacit knowledge spillovers embedded in the higher skilled labor. The dual-cooperation between enterprises and government is not an effective institutional arrangement compared with the Triple Helix mode. A new model describing the knowledge spillover effects in the regional level was proposed and the empirical analysis confirmed its validity.