How Can Artificial Intelligence Policies Promote the Sustainable Enhancement of Regional Science and Technology Industrial Competitiveness? A Fuzzy-Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) of Policy Instruments

The sustainable enhancement of regional science and technology industrial competitiveness is an important objective of artificial intelligence (AI) policy. However, how different AI policy instruments can be combined to achieve this goal remains insufficiently understood. This study aims to address this issue by identifying the configurational pathways through which combinations of AI policy instruments contribute to the sustainable enhancement of regional science and technology industrial competitiveness. Based on a policy instrument framework, we analyze AI policies issued by provincial-level governments in China and apply fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), which is appropriate for examining the combined effects of multiple policy instruments. The results show that no single policy instrument is sufficient to produce high regional science and technology industrial competitiveness. Instead, sustained competitiveness is achieved through multiple equivalent configurations of policy instruments. Three driving pathways are identified—(supply and demand)-environmental resonance, demand-driven (supply-environmental) assurance, and supply–demand complementarity—covering five specific configurations. The variation across configurations indicates that effective AI policy mixes are contingent on regional resource endowments and development conditions. Technology R&D support, talent cultivation and collaboration, and application demonstration and promotion emerge as the most recurrent core conditions across configurations. Accordingly, local governments should develop coordinated AI policy mixes, align differentiated policy pathways with regional conditions, and prioritize technology R&D support, talent cultivation and collaboration, and application demonstration and promotion to sustain long-term regional competitiveness.