Academic Research and Institutional Breakthrough: Theoretical Analysis Under COVID-19

After the outbreak of Covid-19, the public criticized China’s imperfect system and unclear rights and responsibilities of governments at all levels. This study first analyzes the institutional impaction as plausible reasons for the viral outburst and social damage through three dimensions: the tightly coupled system and the decoupling between powers and responsibilities, the conflict between regulatory legitimacy and cognitive legitimacy, and the absence of nongovernment organizations (NGOs) and the nonprofessionalism of professional organizations. Then, given the informational asymmetry, we focus on the promising potential of academic research for an institutional breakthrough. Sensibly, professional knowledge and information disclosure played mediating roles between the relationship of academic research and government policy, while complexity of the decision and external and internal supervisions are motivators and constraints. On this basis, suggestions for achieving institutional breakthrough through academic research are put forward. This study enriches disciplinary boundaries by applying institutional theory to the discussion of state management and academic research, promoting scientific decision-making in political-academic cooperation.