The effect of facilitating interdisciplinary cooperation on the research productivity of university research teams: The moderating role of government assistance[Defining Interdisciplinary Research: Conclusions from a Critical Review of the Literature]

Interdisciplinary research is vital to research productivity. However, the existing research has not given a reasonable explanation on how and under what condition facilitating interdisciplinary research cooperation promotes research productivity. This article aims to contribute to the existing literature by examining the link between facilitating interdisciplinary cooperation and research productivity as well as the role of government assistance in this link. Using a sample of 314 members of Chinese university research teams, we show that management, operations, evaluation, team building, and collaborating with industry to facilitate interdisciplinary cooperation all have significantly positive effects on the research productivity of university research teams. Among them, evaluation has the most significant impact on research productivity. Moreover, government assistance weakens the relationship between evaluation and research productivity but strengthens the relationship between management and research productivity. However, the moderating effects of government assistance on the links among team building, operations, collaborating with industry, and team research productivity are not statistically significant. Overall, our study has important implications for governments and universities seeking to facilitate interdisciplinary cooperation.