The impact of relatedness and unrelatedness on breakthrough innovation in China: Examining the role of complementary interregional linkages

This study discusses the effects of local knowledge base and complementary interregional linkages on regional breakthrough technological development. The empirical analysis takes China as a case study, and the data are 4.12 million patents for 132 technologies in 275 Chinese cities from 2000 to 2020. The study finds that: (1) China's breakthrough innovations exhibit spatially polarized patterns of uneven development, and the technological focus has transitioned from traditional industrial sectors to technology-intensive and emerging strategic industries. (2) Technological relatedness exerted a positive influence on both the entry and growth stage of breakthrough innovations.Conversely, technological unrelatedness facilitates the growth of breakthrough technologies in established technological fields, yet exerts no significant effect on their entry into novel technological fields. Moreover, the effects of technological relatedness and unrelatedness on breakthrough innovations are significantly city-specific. (3) While interregional complementary linkages play a pivotal role in fostering breakthrough innovation formation and development, their interaction with technological unrelatedness exerts a suppressive influence on the technological growth of breakthrough innovations in established fields. This findings provide critical policy implications for nurturing breakthrough technologies in underdeveloped regions, not only within China but also across the global landscape.