Evolutionary game analysis of BIM collaborative innovation in China’s construction industry: a cooperative patent network approach

As the construction industry accelerates digital transformation, BIM collaborative innovation has become a key driver of sustainable development, yet existing studies lack systematic exploration of the mechanisms among core organizations. This study investigates structural evolution and behavioral dynamics of BIM collaborative innovation networks between Chinese construction enterprises and academic institutions, using 2015–2024 cooperative patent data and integrating complex network theory with evolutionary game modeling to capture nonlinear feedback between micro-strategies and macro-structures. Results show the BIM patent network has scale-free properties with core nodes dominating connectivity; clustering coefficients and community structures grow over time. Evolutionary cooperation is influenced by benefit distribution, innovation spillovers, and default penalties. Network scale slows convergence: small networks are more sensitive to benefit distribution, while large ones respond more to spillovers and penalties. This expands complex network evolutionary game theory in construction innovation and provides a novel multi-agent collaborative innovation framework.