Mechanism of change of the non-local innovation network of the biomedical industry in the Yangtze River Delta

Constructing a non-local innovation network is of great significance for continuously improving the international competitiveness of the biomedical industry in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD). Based on the information entropy of the network, this study adopted the Fisher optimal segmentation method to divide the development of the non-local innovation network of the YRD biomedical industry into germination, growth, and maturity stages, and explored the mechanism of change of each stage with the help of the social network analysis method, the exponential random graph model (ERGM), and the comparative static analysis method. The results showed that: 1) The non-local innovation network of the biomedical industry in the YRD has developed to a mature stage, and the redundant information within the network has increased. 2) The network structure has shown the trend of multicentric and cross-regional development, with some cities moving from the periphery to the core of the network, and the core-periphery structure has weakened. Cities outside of the YRD, such as Beijing and Chengdu, have become the core cities of the non-local innovation network of the YRD biomedical industry, which provide important knowledge supplement for the YRD biomedical industry. 3) Along with the increase of network complexity, the driving force of the endogenous transfer effect of the network structure, Matthew effect based on the innovation capability, and multidimensional proximity on the change of the non-local innovation cooperation network showed great dynamics and their relative importance was changing too. The key driving forces dominating the change of the network at this stage are social proximity and institutional proximity based on trust relationships. The study concludes that in the future, the biomedical industry in the Yangtze River Delta should be alert to the lock-in effect of innovation cooperation led by trust relationships, and it should expand the scope of searching for cooperative partners by removing institutional barriers.