Network Evolution of Digital Technology Transfers and Implications for Urban Digital Innovation Governance: Evidence from Chinese Patent Transactions

Digital technology transfer plays a pivotal role in reshaping innovation landscapes and fueling the growth of the digital economy. To investigate this phenomenon, this study draws on data on digital technology transfers from the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA). Using tools such as Gephi 0.10.1 and ArcGIS 10.8, we construct an inter-city digital technology transfer network and develop a quantitative model to analyse the mechanisms by which it impacts urban digital innovation across multiple geographic scales. The main findings are as follows: (1) The inter-city digital technology transfer network in China forms a “diamond-shaped” spatial structure centred on Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, with several regional hubs sustaining its connectivity and organisation. (2) Despite a decline in the proportion of intra-city transfers, the number of participating cities continues to rise, revealing a spatial pattern of diffusion from core cities toward inland provincial capitals. (3) Benchmark regression results show that both inter- and intra-city transfers significantly enhance urban digital innovation capacity, with inter-city transfers exhibiting a more substantial effect than their intra-city counterparts. This finding holds after a series of robustness tests. (4) Heterogeneity analysis, based on categorising cities into higher-tier (municipalities, sub-provincial cities, and provincial capitals) and lower-tier groups, indicates that the effect of digital technology transfer on innovation is more pronounced in lower-tier cities.