Learning from International Experience: Building University Think Tanks in the Greater Bay Area

The successful development of the three major bay areas in the world has been significantly shaped by the contributions of university think tanks. This paper takes the representative university think tanks in the three-bay areas as research objects, analyzing their organizational nature and operation mechanism through comparative analysis. Hoover Institution, characterized as relatively independent, operates with a project-based organizational structure, targeted capital funding model, policy advisory functional positioning, and an ideologically driven research approach. The Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, categorized as weakly dependent, operates with a departmental organizational structure, an alumni-funded funding source, a platform-type function of positioning itself in public affairs, and a research orientation driven by public issues. The Division of University Corporate Relations, identified as strongly dependent, employs a functional organizational structure, an autonomous revenue-generating source of funding, a function of industrial-academic cooperation and innovation, and a problem-driven research approach. The analysis reveals five significant commonalities among these prominent university think tanks: 1)They fundamentally define the organizational relationship between university think tanks and universities. 2) They define a functional positioning aligned with national development strategies. 3) They establish business content adapted to localized development services. 4) They adopt innovative measures for talent recruitment and support. 5) They develop sustainable operation models and open, close-knit university think tank networks. These common characteristics provide valuable insights for constructing university think tanks in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.