Research On Main Path Identification And Formation Mechanism Of Digital Technology Diffusion In Manufacturing Industry

With digital technology as the core driving force,digital economy promotes digital transformation and high-quality development of global industries through digital industrialization and industrial digitalization.Accelerating the development of the digital economy and promoting the deep integration of the Internet,big data,artificial intelligence and other digital technologies with the manufacturing industry is an important measure for China to bring digital technologies into full play to enable economic development.In this context,the application of digital technology has become a key driver for the future development of manufacturing enterprises,which is related to the sustainable development of the industry.The diffusion of digital technology to the manufacturing industry is an important task for China’s economy to step into the stage of high-quality development.However,in the process of the diffusion of digital technology to the manufacturing industry,the technology and market environment is more changeable and full of uncertainty,which makes the government and industry decision makers face greater investment risks when promoting the diffusion of digital technology.While the diffusion of digital technology has brought subversive influence to the technological development of enterprises in manufacturing industries,the diffusion path and formation mechanism of digital technology among enterprises in various industries have not been clearly defined.In this paper,the patent data of China’s manufacturing industry from 2000 to 2019 are used to construct citation network,and Search Path Count(SPC)traversal weight assignment and global critical path search algorithm are used to identify the main path of digital technology diffusion among manufacturing industries.At the same time,according to the theory of network dynamics,the formation of diffusion main path is affected by the internal structure of the network and the attributes of each node on the main path.Through visualization analysis,the network structure of the main path of digital technology diffusion in manufacturing industry shows convergence,activity and closure.Compared with other external factors,the diversity of technical knowledge,the value of technical cooperation,the opportunity of technology combination and the proximity of technology can truly reveal the nature of the formation of the main path of digital technology diffusion,and highlight the characteristics of digital technology diffusion,which is the fundamental driving force of the formation of the main path of digital technology diffusion.Therefore,in this paper,exponential random graph model(ERGM)is used to select convergence,activity and closure as endogenous structural variables of the network,and technical knowledge diversity,technical cooperation value,technology combination opportunity and technology access as node attribute variables to explore the formation mechanism of digital technology diffusion main path.Through the identification and research of the diffusion main path,it is found that the diffusion main path involves 12 manufacturing industries.The diffusion of digital technology in the main path has different diffusion characteristics in different periods,and 13 manufacturing digital technology diffusion main paths are formed due to the influence of industry boundary and industry heterogeneity.There are significant differences in the technology fields,core technologies,major cities and institutions involved in these main paths,and diffusion efficiency.The results of exponential random graph model show that technology combination opportunity and technology access have a significant positive influence on the formation of diffusion main path,while the diversity of technical knowledge and the value of technical cooperation have a significant negative influence on the formation of diffusion main path.In addition,the convergence,activity and closure,as the internal structural variables of the network,have a significant positive influence on the formation of digital technology diffusion main path.These findings can provide appropriate methods to reveal the current trend and direction of China’s digital technology development,provide important basis for technology developers and policy makers to choose the path of digital technology development,and provide effective guidance for manufacturing enterprises to grasp the development opportunities brought by digital technology.