Spatiotemporal dynamic and influencing mechanism of university technology transfer network in China: A university-city bipartite network perspective

The low efficiency of university technology transfer has become a real problem that need to be solved urgently in China. In the context of the in-depth implementation of innovation-driven strategy, it has important reference value to realize the goal of building world S&T power that explores the transfer law from the perspective of university supply and regional demand. Using university-assigned patent data from 2001 to 2018, this study investigates the spatiotemporal characteristic and influencing mechanism of university technology transfer network in China from university-city perspective based on social network analysis, GIS spatial analysis, and network dynamic model. Some findings were obtained as follows: (1) With the growing number of universities and cities involved in university technology transfer network, the scale of the network is expanding rapidly, and the differences among university and city nodes in terms of the scope and quantity of technology transfer are both enlarging. The technology of university is mainly transferred from comprehensive and science and engineering universities belonging to 985 Project and 211 Project to municipalities, provincial capitals, and regional central cities. (2) University technology transfer is highly geographically localized with a significant border effect. On the one hand, high-level local university technology transfer is mainly distributed in municipalities and provincial capitals, because these cities are characterized by higher absorptive capacity with numerous prestigious universities. On the other hand, once it crosses the border of the city where the university is located, university technology transfer decreases significantly since geographical distance does not substantially impact university technology transfer. Due to the existence of substantial university technology transfer among core cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Chengdu, nonlocal university technology transfer network is trapezoidal-shaped and anchored by five metropolitan areas, namely Beijing-Tianjin, Chengdu-Chongqing, Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, and Harbin-Changchun-Shenyang. (3) The formation and evolution of university technology transfer network are co-driven by university level, university type, geographical distance, co-location, technological compatibility, and urban technology absorptive capacity. Accordingly, it is suggested to promote the construction of university technology transfer system at city scale according to local conditions and strengthen the construction of multi-scale university technology transfer network in core cities.