Evolution of the collaborative innovation network in China’s integrated circuit industry: a hypernetwork analysis

The integrated circuit industry is a cornerstone of modern information technology. The collaborative innovation network represents an effective path for industries to achieve technological innovation. Therefore, this paper constructs a multi-level collaborative innovation network for the integrated circuit industry and analyzes its evolutionary characteristics and formation mechanisms. The results show that: the cooperation network demonstrates an overall characteristic of 'small clusters and large dispersions', with prominent central nodes and a relatively high average path length, which is not conducive to information transmission. The knowledge network nodes exhibit high transmission efficiency, and the overall technological field is gradually transitioning towards focusing on technology-intensive design and innovation. The edges between heterogeneous nodes in the two-level network continue to intensify, exhibiting an overall spatial correlation characteristic of 'multi-centers to multi-centers'. Analyzing the network formation mechanism using the Exponential Random Graph model (ERGM) reveals that nodes within the collaborative innovation network primarily establish connections through direct relationships. There is a significant interaction between cross-level connections in the two-level network. Degree centrality has a relatively prominent role in promoting network evolution. Findings here provide theoretical support and reference for the government to formulate innovation policies and optimise the industrial environment for the integrated circuit industry.