| With the advent of the knowledge-based economy,knowledge and technological innovation have gradually become important strategic resources that affect the sustained economic growth of a country or region.In the new era when collaborative innovation becomes the new trend of urban innovation development,regional innovation networks are gradually formed and grown in the increasingly frequent cooperation of innovation cooperation among cities.As the economic center of the eastern region of China,the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration has the economic foundation for the transformation to the innovation-driven development mode.Therefore,by studying the structural characteristics and evolution laws of innovation networks in the Yangtze River Delta city cluster and analyzing the influence of neighboring dynamics on innovation networks,we can provide useful references for China’s innovation-driven development and regional coordination.Firstly,based on the basic theory and the combing of related literature,this paper takes 26 cities in the Yangtze River Delta city cluster as the research objects,uses the data of joint application for invention patents among cities from 2005 to 2019,and explores the structure and evolution characteristics of the innovation network of the Yangtze River Delta city cluster by using social network analysis method with the help of UCINET,Arcgis 10.5,Stata 16 and other related software.The research results show that the innovation network of the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration shows structural characteristics such as dense east-west,obvious "Z" spindle structure,and significant core-edge structure,and the evolution of the innovation network is characterized by the expansion of the overall network,the manifestation of the characteristics of small-world network structure,and the mixture of multiple modes of network connection.In terms of the internal clustering of the network,the provincial area is the basic unit of collaborative innovation in the Yangtze River Delta city cluster,and the innovation cooperation among clustering groups is more frequent,and the interaction frequency of western edge cities increases.Secondly,from the proximity perspective,the factors influencing the evolution of the innovation network in the Yangtze River Delta city cluster are theoretically interpreted and empirically analyzed using a spatial interaction model.The results show that geographical proximity,institutional proximity and economic proximity all contribute significantly to the evolution of innovation networks in the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomerations.Meanwhile,the influence of education level on the evolution of innovation networks in the Yangtze River Delta city cluster has been significant,and the influence of government input is not significant.To achieve coordinated development of regional innovation,policy recommendations are proposed to strengthen the radiation capacity of central cities,break through administrative barriers,promote technology exchange,increase education investment,and cultivate complex and highly qualified talents. |
