Evolution of the Structure of Double-Layer Technology Cooperation-Transfer Networks and Its Impact on Innovation Capabilities

With the increasing connectivity across regions of the modern society, innovation networks have become a prominent paradigm in the field of innovation geography. Considering the ongoing regional integration of the Yangtze River Delta and current challenges posed by uneven development in innovation capabilities, examining the impact of inter-urban innovation networks on the enhancement of urban innovation capacity holds substantial research significance. However, current scholarly research seldom explores the evolution of dual-layer networks. Furthermore, studies on the effects of innovation networks tend to focus only on their direct impacts on network entities, with limited analyses of innovation proximity and spillover effects. Therefore, this study constructed a double-layer innovation network for the Yangtze River Delta for the period 2010 to 2019 based on patent collaboration and transfer data. It characterizes the basic evolutionary features of this double-layer network, analyzes the structural development differences between the collaboration and transfer subnetworks, investigates the dynamics of their coupling evolution, and explores the spatial spillover effects of the dual-layer network structure on urban innovation capacity. The findings reveal that: (1) Internal connectivity within the double-layer innovation network of the Yangtze River Delta has strengthened, enhancing accessibility and efficiency while reducing internal centripetal tendencies, thus achieving increasingly coordinated intercity innovation linkages; (2) The initial distribution of the transfer and collaboration networks was concentrated along the southeastern coastal areas, but subsequent polarization eased, with a more marked decrease in hierarchical structure in the transfer network, which also exhibited a higher level of development compared to the collaboration network; (3) The overall coupling coordination of the two sub-networks has risen, although with increased dispersion, leading to pronounced polarization but without severe effects; (4) Regression results from spatial econometric models indicate that node strength and importance within the double-layer network positively influence urban innovation capacity, with both showing significant negative spatial spillover effects. Urban economic vitality and consumer demand are positively correlated with local innovation capacity; the enhancement of economic vitality in neighboring cities also promotes local innovation capacity. However, the optimization of industrial structures in adjacent cities negatively impacts local innovation capacity. These findings suggest that the Yangtze River Delta should continue to implement integration policies, with core cities taking the lead and less-developed cities actively integrating into the innovation network to promote the region's overall enhancement of innovation capacity. Moreover, cities should not only draw on advanced external expertise but also increase their own technological outputs, balancing both "bringing in" and "going out." This approach not only strengthens the coupling between the two subnetworks, but also enables overall optimization of the innovation network. This study provides novel and profound insights into the construction of intercity innovation networks in the Yangtze River Delta and offers valuable references for improving and coordinating urban innovation capacity across the region.