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Science and Technology Management and Innovation Management

From "Empowerment" to "Enabling": An Empirical Analysis of  the Transformation of Researchers' Job-Related Scientific and  Technological Achievement 

Zhang Jing, Sun Yiming, Li Huijie, Hao Wanjun 

(College of Business Administration, Hebei University of Economics and Business, Shijiazhuang 050061, China)

Abstract: The transformation of scientific and technological (S&T) achievements is key to  achieving self-reliance in S&T and developing new quality productive forces. China has long  implemented a job⁃related ownership system where institutions own achievements and research⁃ ers transform them. Lack of property rights protection has left researchers unwilling, afraid, and  unable to transform. In 2020, nine ministries including the Ministry of Science and Technology  launched a pilot reform granting researchers ownership or long-term use rights over job-related  achievements, aiming to use property rights incentives to address institutional barriers to trans⁃ formation. However, numerous obstacles remain, and transformation efficiency has fallen short of  expectations. This study surveys researchers from universities, research institutes, and cooperat⁃ ing enterprises in H Province across four dimensions: policy awareness and attitudes, current in⁃ centive mechanisms, practical awareness of the empowerment reform, and benefit evaluation. A  total of 392 valid questionnaires were collected and analyzed using descriptive statistics and  multi-source data cross-validation. The findings are as follows: ①The "high support-low aware⁃ ness" cognitive paradox. The vast majority of researchers strongly support the empowerment re⁃ form, yet nearly half have limited knowledge of specific policy content, with a pronounced gap  between universities and enterprises. ②The absence of operational guidelines is the most promi⁃ nent institutional barrier. In cross-organizational collaboration, "misaligned goals" and "ambigu⁃ ous division of responsibilities" are the most common obstacles, as the divergence between uni⁃ versities' pursuit of academic value and enterprises' pursuit of short-term profits undermines  the foundation for cooperation. ③Intellectual contributions are not fully reflected. Most respon⁃ dents believe current benefit evaluation overfocuses on transaction amounts while neglecting in⁃ tellectual contributions. One-time cash rewards dominate the prevailing distribution model, with  long-term incentives rarely applied, severely undermining researchers' sense of reward and sus⁃ tained willingness to participate. ④Cumbersome approval procedures constrain incentive effec⁃ tiveness. Lengthy approval processes rank first among policy implementation barriers, and re⁃ searchers prioritize greater weight for transformation outcomes in professional title evaluations over equity incentives, indicating career development drives participation. Finally, based on  these findings, this study proposes optimization recommendations across four dimensions: first, improving policy transmission mechanisms by establishing a "grassroots-oriented" policy com⁃ munication system and leveraging successful cases to strengthen demonstration effects; second, refining empowerment operational rules by issuing implementation guidelines for co-ownership  rights and establishing due diligence exemption lists; third, streamlining approval procedures  and innovating diversified incentive mechanisms to shift researchers from "one-time benefits" to  "sustained benefits"; fourth, restructuring benefit evaluation mechanisms by improving quantita⁃ tive recognition rules for intellectual contributions and deeply embedding transformation perfor⁃ mance into professional title evaluation systems, so as to inject sustained innovative momentum  into China's pursuit of self-reliance in science and technology. 

Key words: job-related scientific and technological achievements; empowerment reform; scientific researcher; incentive mechanism; transformation of achievement; benefit distribution; value assessment; new quality productive forces