The unbalanced dynamics in Sino-South Korea scientific and technological collaboration: a triple helix perspective with insights from paper and patent network analysis

This study attempts to explore Sino-South Korea collaborations in science and technology,focusing on the networks of university –industry–government (UIG) relations embedded inco-authored papers and co-assigned patents at the institutional and global levels. Patents andscientific publications are examined over the period 2004– 2014 to capture recent trends andpatterns of collaborative innovation activities among UIG actors in China and South Korea. The analysis has been carried out from a triple helix perspective, investigating the structureand dynamics of the Sino-Korea scientific and technological collaborations. The resultreveals an imbalance between science and technology in knowledge dynamics and thedifferent extent and intensity of collaborative efforts of the two countries. Based oncomparative analysis of co-authorship and co-inventorship networks, the scale and densityof scientific collaboration networks appear much higher than those of the technologicalcounterpart. In fact, the technological collaboration between China and Korea is notcommon in patents and its network needs to be further strengthened. Implications for bothChina and Korea of future collaborative relationships are discussed.