Examining the moderating effect of technology spillovers embedded in the intra- and inter-regional collaborative innovation networks of China

Innovation network formulated by the collaborations between entities (firms, universities and research institutes) facilitates the technology spillovers, which usually act as a key factor that boosts indigenous innovation capability. This study analyzes the collaborative innovation network from both intra- and inter-regional dimensions. We use the Chinese biomedical patent co-inventing data between entities to construct the intra- and inter-regional collaborative innovation networks, and examine how they generate the spillover effect by moderating the relationship between R&D input and output, as well as how they moderate the technology spillovers from overseas countries. The empirical study shows that collaborative innovation network generates a significant moderating effect on the relationship between R&D personnel and innovation output, while this effect is insignificant for R&D investment. In the intra-regional collaborative innovation network dimension, clustering coefficient and network density generate positive moderating effects by amplifying the positive relationship between R&D personnel and innovation output, network density also positively moderates the correlation between overseas technology spillover and innovation output; In the inter-regional dimension, only the clustering coefficient positively moderates the relationship between R&D personnel and innovation output. Our study is also relevant to policy makers.