The belt and road initiative, joint intellectual capital development towards industry value added of a partner economy

Abstract

The BRI (Belt and Road Initiative) project is about to complete its 10 years, and its growth and legitimacy have invoked a wider interest leading to competing arguments about whether it serves any benefits to any BRI partner countries. Opponents contend that BRI serves China’s economic and political purpose without contributing to the partner economy. We attempt to settle this contention by exploring the empirical evidence on CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor), a pilot project of the BRI project that highlights the intellectual development of nations, science and technology progress and socioeconomic development. Socioeconomic theories explain that interactive structures contribute to the partner’s science, technology, and industrial development. Following these assumptions, we raised the empirical question: does the joint Sino-Pak publication predict an increase in Pakistan’s IVA (industry value added) in the post-BRI versus the pre-BRI period? We integrated publications from 27 disciplines from 2012 to 2020 ( N = 243) and linked them to the IVA of Pakistan (estimated by the World Bank). Our robust analysis reveals strong support for the main hypothesis. First, Chinese science positively predicts Pakistan’s IVA, and it negatively predicts the IVA of a non-BRI partner. Second, joint science productivity positively predicts Pakistan’s IVA but not of the non-BRI partner. Third, science productivity predicts Pakistan’s IVA more in the post-BRI period than in the pre-BRI period. In short, Pakistan’s industrial added value through the development of the Chinese contribution to the intellectual development of Pakistan supports this argument, settling the outstanding issue of socioeconomic development of the BRI system. It reduces uncertainty and confusion created by narratives in popular literature of a rhetorical nature. Overall, the study provides a basis for future research and policy.

Tension and transition between technical and conformance devices in sino-foreign university alliances towards innovativeness

“…The power and purpose of negotiation may influence the technical-conformance interaction as it does the explorative-exploitative interaction elsewhere (Malik & Yazar, 2016). Fifth, our data collection ended in 2013, and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) launched afterwards has diffused across regions, including attention to the education sector (Malik, 2022). More recently, in 2020, The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a free trade agreement between the Asia-Pacific nations of Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam, added further stimulus to Sino-foreign interaction in the higher education (Malik, 2022).…”

“…Fifth, our data collection ended in 2013, and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) launched afterwards has diffused across regions, including attention to the education sector (Malik, 2022). More recently, in 2020, The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a free trade agreement between the Asia-Pacific nations of Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam, added further stimulus to Sino-foreign interaction in the higher education (Malik, 2022). Therefore, future studies may use this research as a foundation for analysing interdisciplinary, inter-institutional and inter-paradigmatic arguments.…”

“…However, the data limits prevent anticipating whether the trend will go up or down after 2013. We expect a positive trend because of the Belt and Road Initiative and international students’ flow to China (BRI, 2019; Malik, 2022).…”

“…: Technical core: Frequency of manifest and latent devices in the MOUs: Conformance: Frequency of manifest and latent devices.: Control variables: A list of confounding variables:◦ Dummy years◦ The text size of the press (word count)◦ Dummy of firms mentioned.◦ Dummy of multinational firms mentioned.◦ Government-government participation◦ Government-university participation◦ University-university participation◦ University-industry participation◦ Dummy of bilateral relations mentioned ( Malik, 2022 ). ◦ Dummy of 11 strategic technologies in the state policy …”

“…• Government-government participation • Government-university participation • University-university participation • University-industry participation • Dummy of bilateral relations mentioned (Malik, 2022).…”