Through the Stakeholder Lens: How Technology Innovation Networks Shape Corporate Reputation in China

Continuous inter-firm collaboration gives rise to technological innovation networks (TIN), which increasingly shape firms’ stakeholder perceptions and reputation. This study examines how TIN characteristics influence corporate reputation using Chinese A-share listed firms from 2018 to 2022. The results show that TIN scale, heterogeneity, and openness significantly enhance corporate reputation, while tie strength has no significant effect. Further analyses reveal that the employee income gap mediates the relationship between TIN scale and reputation with an inverted U-shaped effect. In addition, TIN heterogeneity improves reputation by enhancing investment efficiency, and TIN openness contributes to reputation enhancement by reducing customer concentration risk. These findings advance understanding of the reputational value of innovation networks and provide implications for network strategy and stakeholder management.