Research on the pathways to enhance industry-academia-research institute collaboration and innovation: from the perspective of subway opening

As a crucial component of urban transportation infrastructure, the subway not only optimizes the urban transportation network but also accelerates the flow and aggregation of innovative resources, holding significant importance for enhancing the level of Industry-academia-research cooperation among enterprises. This study utilizes panel data from A-share listed companies on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges from 2010 to 2022, employing a multi-time point difference-in-differences method to delve into the promotional effect of subway opening on enterprise Industry-academia-research cooperation. The findings reveal that the opening of a subway significantly elevates the level of Industry-academia-research cooperation among enterprises, and this conclusion remains valid after a series of robustness tests. Mechanism analysis indicates that subway opening primarily promotes enterprise Industry-academia-research cooperation through three pathways: enhancing corporate cooperation culture, increasing the proportion of high-quality talent in enterprises, and elevating the level of digital transformation. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the promotional effect of subway opening on the level of enterprise Industry-academia-research cooperation is more pronounced in non-state-owned enterprises, high-tech enterprises, and small-scale enterprises. The research conclusions provide reliable empirical support for the promotion of enterprise Industry-academia-research cooperation by subway opening and offer insights and references for the government to further advance decision-making related to transportation infrastructure construction and high-quality enterprise development.