Do Spatial Spillovers of Technology Transfer Networks Impact Urban Innovation Capacity? Evidence from Chinese Cities

As the flow of innovation elements breaks through geographical boundaries, patent transfer and the resulting spatial knowledge spillovers have become a crucial pathway for cities to enhance their competitive advantages and foster collaborative innovation. This study crawls technology transfer data through Big Data mining and uses social network analysis to construct an intercity technology transfer network among 286 Chinese cities at the prefecture-level and above between 2000 and 2020. The study explores the influence of technology transfer networks and their spatial spillovers on urban innovation capacity. The results are as follows: (1) Moran’s I results indicate that technology transfer and innovation activities among Chinese cities exhibit significant spatial dependence. (2) The Markov chain analysis reveals that the technology transfer networks among Chinese cities exhibit significant spatial spillovers. (3) Spatial econometric analysis and effect decomposition demonstrate that technology transfer networks exhibit significant spatial dependence and spillover effects. Through the induced spatial knowledge spillovers, technology transfer networks contribute to enhancing the innovation capabilities of neighboring cities.