Research on triple helix of university-industry-government relations: Empirical evidence from China

The triple helix of university-industry- government relations has been accepted as an important determinant of innovation. Collaboration between academia and industry plays a vital role in the economic development of the industrialized countries. In order to maximize profit through such collaborations, it is important to have a healthy and fruitful collaboration. Science and technology (S&T) collaboration platform in East China is a new fashioned form. This paper examines the collaboration relationship and explores the influence of collaboration on high-tech firms. Following a survey of 552 high-tech firms and 56 universities, we find that high-tech firms can improve economic performance through the collaborations with universities on the platform. In addition, the main findings indicate that the economic performance of high-tech firms is positively related with the collaborated projects, i.e. the more collaboration, the better economic performance.