ROLE OF UNIVERSITIES IN LOCAL PRODUCTION SYSTEMS OF CREATIVE INDUSTRIES:A CASE STUDY OF DESIGN INDUSTRY IN BEIJING AND SHANGHAI

Currently,universities have been facing new challenges on cultivation of intellectual skills and creation of science and technology.In China,intellectual resources in many kinds of academic institutes have been increasingly encouraged to be put into practical use.As a result,universities are playing a powerful effect on the evolution of local social and economic system.Based on the questionnaire on 94 design firms in Beijing and Shanghai,the paper explores what exactly the functions of universities in the development of creative industries in advanced areas of China are.Case study shows that universities are more active and sensitive to market demands than before.Driven by academic and economic benefits,demands of design firms and encouragement of local authorities,universities become an important initiative instead of a passive attendant.Universities act as an intellectual tank of firms and governments for their creative ideas,and also an intellectual reservoir for human capital.Moreover,they tend to be an incubator of creative firms on the base of entrepreneurship education,infrastructure provision,and academic entrepreneurs.As a conclusion,universities have two great advantages-one is their scarce resources of famous professional brand,intellectual capital,and social capital especially based on their schoolfellows,and the other is the unique role combining education with research and business,which cannot be easily replaced by other organizations.