The impact of multidimensional proximity on enterprise cooperative innovation performance: the moderating role of governance mechanisms

Purpose Collaborative innovation has become an increasingly important approach for enterprises to cope with intense market competition and technological complexity. This study aims to explore the impact of multidimensional proximity (including geographical proximity, organizational proximity and technological proximity) on enterprise cooperative innovation performance and analyzes the roles of contractual governance and trust governance based on transaction cost theory and social exchange theory. Design/methodology/approach The study employs survey data from 242 manufacturing firms in China and applies hierarchical regression analysis to test the theoretical model. Findings The results show that there is a significant U-shaped relationship between geographical proximity and enterprise cooperative innovation performance, while organizational proximity and technological proximity have significant positive effects on enterprise cooperative innovation performance. Additionally, contractual governance strengthens the U-shaped effect of geographical proximity but weakens the positive impact of organizational proximity, whereas trust governance enhances the positive relationship between multidimensional proximity and enterprise cooperative innovation performance. Originality/value These findings not only enrich the theoretical research on enterprise cooperative innovation but also provide practical guidance for enterprise managers in designing and implementing collaborative innovation strategies, especially in terms of optimizing proximity and governance mechanisms to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of cooperative innovation.