J.Geogr.Sci.2023,33(3):599-617DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-022-2065-7©2023SciencePressSpringer-VerlagTheinnovationnetworksshapedbylargeinnovativeenterprisesinurbanChinaMAHaitao1,*YehuaDennisWEI2,HUANGXiaodong3,ZHANGWeiyang41.KeyLaboratoryofRegionalSustainableDevelopmentModeling,InstituteofGeographicSciencesandNat-uralResourcesResearch,CAS,Beijing100101,China;2.DepartmentofGeography,UniversityofUtah,SaltLakeCity84112,USA;3.InstituteforGlobalInnovationandDevelopment,EastChinaNormalUniversity,Shanghai200062,China;4.ResearchCenterforChinaAdministrativeDivision,EastChinaNormalUniversity,Shanghai200062,ChinaAbstract:Studiesinvestigatinginnovationnetworksshapedbylargeinnovativeenterprises(LI-ENTs),whichplayaveryimportantroleinintercitydiffusionoftechnologyandknowledge,areratherthinontheground.UsinglocationinformationofLI-ENTsinChina,weperformedaheadquarter-branchanalysistogenerateintercityinnovationlinkagesandanalyzedthepat-ternsanddynamicsofthegeneratednetworkofknowledgediffusion.Althoughthenetworkcovers353citiesacrossChina,itsspatialdistributionisextremelyuneven,withafewcitiesandcity-dyadsdominatingthestructureofthenetwork.Furthermore,intercitylinkagesofinnovationwithinandofurbanagglomerations,aswellastheircentralcities,standout.Withregardtonetworkdynamics,theeconomicdevelopmentlevel,innovationability,andadmin-istrativelevelofcities,aswellasthegeographical,institutional,andtechnologicalproximitybetweencitiesareallfoundtohaveapositiveimpactonintercitylinkagesofinnovations,whilsttheimpactofFDIonthenationaldistributionofChineseinnovativeenterprisesisneg-ative.Mostimportantly,thestatusofcitieswithintheurbanagglomerationexertsasignificantpositiveeffectinrelationtotheinnovativeenterprises’expansions,whichreflectsthatthetop-downforcesofgovernmentandthebottom-upforcesofmarketfunctiontogether.Keywords:innovativenetworks;largeenterprises;intercityrelations;headquarter-branchmodel;urbanag-glomeration;proximity;China1IntroductionLargefirms,especiallytransnationalcorporati...
