How Can Universities Build Distinctive Discipline Clusters While Serving Industrial Development? An empirical study based on configuration theory

In order to study how universities can build distinctive discipline clusters in the development of service industry, this study analyzes the influencing factors of the construction of distinctive discipline clusters by using Necessary Condition Analysis (NCA) and fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) methods on data from universities and light industries across 20 Chinese provinces. The study finds that the policy orientation and the level of integration of industry and education are the core elements to promote the construction of high-quality distinctive discipline clusters in the development of the service industry in universities. Further more, key findings of this study reveal that the five configurations of high-quality construction of distinctive discipline clusters, from which three equivalent paths can be obtained, namely, the government-industry-environment-driven type, the political-academic factor aggregation type, and the government-industry-academia multi-source linkage type. The Research conclusion provides a theoretical basis for the construction of distinctive discipline clusters in the process of service industry in universities.