Research On The Evolution Of Technological Convergence Network And Its Impact On Industrial Performance

The new round of scientific and technological revolution as well as industrial transformation paves way for a new trend of cross field and multidisciplinary breakthroughs,which will have a subversive influence on the existing economic structure.The fusion and integration of technologies is the core of technological innovation.A network of technology convergence is created when several technical components converge and interpenetrate one another.In recent years,technology convergence network has attracted the attention of various scholars,and has emerged as one of the core ideas for comprehending technological progress and development.The technology convergence network can not only reflect the structure of technical knowledge,but also reflect the linked shared by inheritance and development of technologies.Textile technology has the remarkable characteristics of interdisciplinary and cross field integration.Several new industries,such as new materials,energy conservation and environmental protection,high-end equipment manufacturing,etc.have been created as a result of the cross-disciplinary integration of textile technology and emerging technology.Nevertheless,the research on the evolution of technology integration network in the textile field is comparatively scarce,and the theoretical as well as the empirical research on the impact of its evolution law on industrial performance is even less.Understanding of the evolution law of technology convergence network and its influence on industrial development would assist China’s textile industry achieve leapfrog development and promote the high-quality development of China’s economy.Many issues need to be researched in this area.How should the technological convergence network be analysed? How does the technology convergence network of the textile industry evolve? Does the evolution of technology convergence network influences the performance of the textile industry,and what is the impact mechanism? How can the performance of the textile industry be improved by optimising the network structure of technological convergence? The solution of the above issue is highly important in enhancing the core competitiveness of China’s textile industry,break through the core technology of the "choke" problem,and construct a new engine for economic development as well as cultivate new economic momentum in China.This paper makes extensive use of technology evolution theory,social network theory,knowledge base theory,technology innovation and economic growth theory,and pay attention to the core issue of "technology convergence network evolution as well as its impact on industrial performance".It describes the evolution law of technological convergence in the textile industry using the social network approach and examines in great detail how cross domain technology convergence networks have evolved and how they affected the performance of the textile industry,A theoretical model of the influence of the evolution of technology convergence network on the performance of the textile industry is built,and empirical research is conducted using econometric methods as well as qualitative comparative research methods(QCA).The research contents include:(1)Create the analytical framework for the evolution of the technology network.On the basis of theory and literature research,the qualitative and quantitative methods have been utilised for describing the phenomenon,process and law of technology fusion,establish the index of the evolution measurement of technology fusion network.Moreover,to seek the quantitative approach and effective analysis framework suitable for the characteristics of textile technology,form the analysis framework of network evolution combined with the development trend of technology fusion as well as the analysis of technology fusion network.(2)Describe the evolution,characteristics and laws governing the network of technological integration in the textile sector.Based on the analysis framework of technology convergence evolution constructed,the evolution of textile technology network convergence has been assessed from the industrial level.This reveals the laws of the evolution of textile industry technology convergence network,which provides a realistic basis for the subsequent theoretical and empirical research on the influence of technology convergence network evolution on industrial performance,as well as providing data support for the evolution of technology convergence network.(3)Theoretical model and empirical research on the impact of industrial performance and network evolution on technological convergence.On the basis of clarifying the evolution law of technology convergence network in textile industry,a theoretical model of the effect of technology convergence network evolution on industrial performance is established through literature analysis and theoretical deduction.Moreover,certain research assumptions have been put forward.Further,based on the textile patent data and the economic data of the textile industry,the panel fixed effect regression method has been used for empirical research in order to verify the theoretical model of the interaction mechanism of the evolution of cross domain technology fusion network on the performance of the textile industry,and the heterogeneity test is conducted.(4)Configuration research on the way to better performance in the textile sector.The performance of the textile industry cannot be fully understood by relying on traditional statistical analysis methods.In contrast to traditional analysis techniques,qualitative comparative analysis(QCA)based on set theory holds that multiple concurrent causal relationships are formed by the interdependence and various combinations of causes and conditions,which is helpful for a deeper understanding of the driving mechanism of performance differentiation in various industries of the textile industry.Thus,based on the empirical research on the evolution effect of technology convergence network using the traditional panel fixed effect regression method,the qualitative comparative analysis(QCA)method based on set theory has been employed to analyse the multiple complex mechanism behind the textile industry performance based on the configuration perspective.In the light of the abovementioned research contents,empirical research has been conducted through the theoretical research on the analysis framework of the evolution of technology convergence network,the evolution law of technology convergence network,and its mechanism for industrial performance.Moreover,it is based on the global intelligent textile patent data,as well as the patent data and economic data of China’s textile industry,empirical research was conducted.Later,four important conclusions were drawn:(1)The method of patent co-occurrence could be utilised for identifying fusion patents,qualitatively analyse the trend of textile technology fusion with the number,life cycle and other characteristics of fusion patents,built a technology fusion network in order to quantitatively assess the evolution law of technology fusion,and use network indicators for measuring the overall and local characteristics of the evolution of technology fusion.The local level covers node and connection analysis,while the global level contains network size,average degree,weighted average degree,density,and other indicators.This research framework is not only applies to the research on specific textile product level technology integration,but also applicable to the research on textile industry level technology integration.(2)Based on the research on the evolution law of the technology convergence network at the textile industry level,it is discovered that the network scale,relationship breadth,and strength of the technology convergence network are all growing and the local aggregation and overall aggregation coefficient of the network show a trend.Simultaneously,the evolution of technology convergence network is heterogeneous,and the sub industries with high technology relevance as well as technology intensity have larger convergence scale,convergence breadth,and convergence intensity as well as convergence degree as compared to the sub industries with high labour intensity.(3)According to studies on the mechanism of technological convergence network evolution’s effect on industrial performance,there is a direct impact between the two.The influence of network relationship strength and integration breadth on industrial performance is inverted U;the influence of network local agglomeration on industrial performance has been inverted U-shaped,while global agglomeration opposes the improvement of industrial performance.Within the textile sector,labour-intensive and technology-intensive industries have different relationships with the technological convergence network and industrial performance.Innovation capability is the intermediary between the relationship strength,relationship breadth,network local aggregation as well as industrial performance of technology convergence network,that is,technology convergence network relationship strength,relationship breadth and network local aggregation influence industrial performance by impacting innovation capability.(4)The paper analyses the evolution path of network of technology fusion to improve the performance of textile industry based on the configuration perspective.It uses the qualitative comparative analysis method of fuzzy sets in order to obtain three evolution paths of technology fusion for improving the performance of textile industry: the gradual technology fusion path characterized by diversified technologies;Innovative technology integration strategy coupled with exceptional originality;Technology integration path characterized by high-quality technology agglomeration.The research conclusion deepens knowledge of the law of technological evolution and its performance mechanism in knowledge-based theory and technological evolution theory,and provides theoretical support and practical evidence for the government to formulate reasonable industrial policies for encouraging technological integration as well as innovation in the textile industry,and enhance the innovation capability and industrial performance of the textile industry.