Author(s)

Yujun Lin, Meirong Zhou, Chaoshun Li, Yusi Li, Xinyi Luo, Ge Chen

Corresponding Author

Ge Chen

Abstract

Against the backdrop of science and technology innovation (STI) becoming a core driving factor for a country's comprehensive national strength and an enterprise's competitiveness, existing studies mostly focus on the effects of individual STI policies, with insufficient exploration into the differences in the effects of policy mixes. This study innovatively adopts a hybrid method combining system simulation experiments and Kruskal-Wallis test to systematically explore the similarities and differences in the innovation effects of different STI policy mixes. The findings are as follows: First, different combinations of policy tools exhibit significantly heterogeneous effects in promoting STI, challenging the traditional assumption of simple linear superposition of policy effects and confirming that the synergetic effect of policy mixes is the key to improving innovation performance. Second, the differences in the effects of policy mixes stem not only from the absolute level of individual policies but, more importantly, from the synergetic logic between policy types and the adaptability of policy levels. The research results hold significant theoretical and practical implications. Theoretically, it breaks through the limitations of individual policy research, constructs an analytical framework of "policy type - policy level - innovation effect", verifies the synergetic and differential characteristics of policy mixes, and provides new support for policy evaluation theory. Practically, it offers specific guidance for policymakers to optimize the STI policy system, including prioritizing the promotion of positive synergetic combinations of environmental, demand-side, and supply-side policies, avoiding contradictory configurations of negative policy mixes, and implementing differentiated dynamic adjustments based on the sensitivity of different policy effects.

Keywords

Policy mix, Innovation effect, System simulation, Kruskal-Wallis test