Resolving “pseudo-collaboration”: Optimizing industry-university-research cooperation motif network structures and capabilities to enhance green innovation

Industry-university-research cooperation has emerged as the primary pathway for achieving green innovation breakthroughs in the new energy vehicle sector, particularly amid environmental uncertainty. However, research on how industry-university-research cooperation can resolve the “connected but not integrated” dilemma remains inadequate, particularly lacking an in-depth exploration of the paradoxical effects of meso -level motif structures and the nonlinear impacts of network capabilities. Based on network organization theory and knowledge-based theory, this study constructs a “Motif Network Structure-Capability-Performance” analytical framework. Using patent data from 803 Chinese listed new energy vehicle companies, the study combines colored network motif analysis with regression models to examine the underlying impact mechanisms through which the motif network structures and capabilities affect green innovation performance. The results indicate that: (1) motif structures exert paradoxical effects. Motifs centered on enterprises and characterized by star-like or chain-like connections positively promote green innovation performance by reducing coordination costs, whereas motifs characterized by homogeneous actor composition and arrow-shaped structures inhibit green innovation performance because of resource redundancy and elevated coordination costs; (2) the three network capabilities (knowledge acquisition, integration, and reconfiguration) exhibit U-shaped nonlinear effects characterized by a threshold effect and progressive threshold breakthrough. This research bridges the macro-micro divide in inter-organizational network studies through a meso-level motif perspective, extending network organization and knowledge-based theories to the context of industry-university-research cooperation. The conclusions provide both theoretical and practical guidance for enterprises and governments to optimize industry-university-research cooperation structures, enhance knowledge management capabilities, and develop differentiated collaborative strategies to advance green innovation.