Measurement, Regional Disparities, and Spatial Convergence in the Symbiotic Level of China’s Digital Innovation Ecosystem

Based on the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2013 to 2022, this paper constructs a measurement index system for the symbiotic level of digital innovation ecosystems from three dimensions: the symbiosis of digital innovation subjects, the digital innovation environment, and digital innovation interaction. This paper applies the entropy weight TOPSIS method, Dagum Gini coefficient decomposition, and spatial convergence analysis to empirically examine the symbiotic levels, regional disparities, and spatial convergence of China’s digital innovation ecosystem. The results are as follows: (i) At the national level, the symbiotic level of China’s digital innovation ecosystem has generally increased, creating a spatial distribution pattern that is “high in the east, flat in the middle, and low in the west”. (ii) From a regional perspective, the major disparities between regions are the primary factors contributing to the overall difference in the symbiotic level of China’s digital innovation ecosystem. (iii) From the perspective of σ convergence, regional disparities in the symbiotic level of the digital innovation ecosystem are constantly expanding, and uneven regional development is intensifying. (iv) From the perspective of absolute β convergence, regions with lower levels of symbiosis in the digital innovation ecosystem have a faster growth rate of symbiosis than regions with higher levels of symbiosis, and there is a certain spatial spillover effect. (v) From the perspective of conditional β convergence, economic structure and innovation application can accelerate the spatial convergence of China’s digital innovation ecosystem symbiosis to a certain extent.