Impact of green technology cooperation networks on regional ecological innovation efficiency

Innovation-driven strategies and ecological progress are now key focuses for advancing ecological innovation. As patent knowledge grows and flows rapidly, cross-organizational and cross-regional technological innovation cooperation becomes inevitable. From the complex network perspective and threshold effect model, using China’s green patent cooperation data across 31 provinces, this study explores the nonlinear impact of green technology cooperation networks on regional ecological innovation efficiency. The results are as follows: (1) From 2000–2021, China has seen obvious regional imbalances in green patent innovation. Innovation activities are increasingly adopting a group cooperation model and enhancing cross-regional knowledge exchange. (2) Strengthening the positions and capabilities of regional cooperation partners can boost the positive effects of degree centrality, closeness centrality, and betweenness centrality on regional ecological innovation efficiency. (3) A decrease in clustering coefficient of green technology cooperation networks may cause significant resource duplication, weakening the positive impact on regional ecological innovation efficiency. (4) When the number of green patent grants surpasses the threshold of 4358, the structural features of green technology cooperation networks more effectively promote regional ecological innovation efficiency. These results are highly significant for developing strategies that combine green development with innovation-driven approaches and for better utilizing the functions of green technology cooperation networks.