Research on the Driving Mechanism of Network Structure of Patent‐Intensive Industrial Clusters: Taking Biopharmaceutical Industry as an Example

ABSTRACT Against the backdrop of profound economic restructuring, the establishment of patent‐intensive industrial cluster networks is of great significance for enhancing China's overall innovation capacity and propelling industrial transformation and upgrading. This study takes the biopharmaceutical industry as an example, utilizing patent data spanning from 2012 to 2023 to construct an innovation network. It delves into the spatial distribution characteristics of patent‐intensive industrial clusters at the urban scale. Furthermore, a temporal exponential random graph model (TERGM) is employed to uncover the multidimensional dynamics driving network evolution. The findings reveal that cities ranking high in various centrality measures within the biopharmaceutical industrial cluster network exhibit stability, with a notable concentration in the eastern coastal regions. Spatial correlations within the cluster network are primarily driven by spillover effects across sectors. The biopharmaceutical industrial cluster network demonstrates positive mediation and transitive effects, accompanied by negative agglomeration effects. Factors such as economic development, the level of openness, heterogeneity in administrative hierarchies, government support levels, and multidimensional proximity among cities all contribute to driving the formation and evolution of the network. The conclusions broaden the application of innovation network theory within the specific context of China and provide a scientific basis for decision‐making in fostering patent‐intensive industrial clusters.