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Regional Science & Technology and Innovation

The Evolution of Intergovernmental Relations in Science and  Technology Innovation Policy in the Bohai Rim Region: 1986-2024 

Zhou Nan, Feng Ranran 

 (College of Economics and Management, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300222, China)

Abstract: Scientific and technological innovation serves as a potent driving force for highquality development. Analyzing textual content pertaining to the evolution of intergovernmental  relations in scientific and technological innovation policies within the Bohai Rim region can re⁃ veal the collaborative capacity and proficiency among policy-making entities. Using jointly is⁃ sued science and technology innovation policies from 1986 to 2024 by the five provincial govern⁃ ments and relevant departments in the Bohai Rim region as the research sample, statistical  analysis was conducted to determine the volume of policy documents issued by each municipal⁃ ity across different phases, alongside the frequency of issuing entities. Employing social network  analysis methodologies, this study quantitatively examined the intergovernmental policy-making  network formed by the five provinces in the Bohai Rim region. Analysis was conducted from both  holistic and individual network perspectives. The findings reveal: ①Regarded policy quantity  distribution, both the number of jointly issued science and technology innovation policies and  the frequency of joint issuance by policy-issuing entities have increased significantly. ②Re⁃ garded joint issuance frequency, the departments most frequently involved in policy formulation  shifted from science and technology departments during the initial phase to provincial (munici⁃ pal) governments and finance departments during the formation phase. In the preliminary devel⁃ opment and key development phases, the focus returned to science and technology departments. In the new phase, a multi-stakeholder collaborative network has emerged, involving science and  technology departments, finance departments, education departments, and others. ③Regarded  intergovernmental relations among joint issuers, the scale of the intergovernmental relationship  network of the joint issuing entity was gradually expanding, and the complexity of the intergov⁃ ernmental relationship network was deepening. The number of network nodes, the number of re⁃ lationships and the density have increased, the network efficiency and average path were less af⁃ fected, and the "dual-core pluralism" characteristics of the individual-centered network were  obvious, and it showed the network characteristics of cooperation with the science and technol⁃ ogy department and the financial department as the core, supplemented by the education depart⁃ ment, the industry and information technology department, and the human resources and social  security department, improving the efficiency of information exchange. ④Significant heterogene⁃ ity existed among provinces in constructing intergovernmental networks for jointly issuing sci⁃ ence and technology innovation policies. Finally, based on the above conclusions, three targeted  policy recommendations are proposed: firstly, establishing a digital collaboration platform to  overcome fragmented governance; secondly, optimizing the intergovernmental network structure  to enhance non-core departments' policy participation and resource access capabilities; and  thirdly, promoting a shift in regional science and technology innovation policies from "quantity  expansion" to "quality optimization". 

Key words: intergovernmental relations; science and technology innovation policy; social net⁃ work analysis; Bohai rim region; policy coordination; issuing entities; network architecture