The structural characteristics and driving mechanism of collaborative innovation network for saline–alkali land development in China

Abstract It is challenging for a single development subject to complete complex scientific research tasks due to the peculiarities of saline–alkali land. Collaborative innovation and cooperation can help break through the common critical technology R&D problems in the development process by sharing information, technology, knowledge, and resources. However, the process of saline–alkali land development in China is slow and the transformation rate of research results is low. Few articles analyze the current situation and driving mechanism of the collaborative innovation network for saline–alkali land development from the perspective of the innovation chain. This paper first constructs an undirected weighted collaborative innovation network from the upstream, midstream, and downstream levels of technological innovation for saline–alkali land development, analyzing the network's structural characteristics and spatial distribution features. Then uses ERGM to explore the internal and external driving mechanism for network formation from network self‐organization, subject characteristics, and exogenous environmental factors. The results demonstrate that the distribution of the collaborative innovation network is relatively uniform. However, there are also clusters, and the clusters are mostly centered on universities and scientific research institutions. Both the development subjects and clusters present regional features. Centrality and transitivity are crucial to the internal driving mechanism. In the external driving mechanism, the Matthew effect is modest, and the homogeneity effect is considerable; Organizational and technical proximity play a positive role; Geographical and institutional proximity play a blocking role. This study also provides practical enlightenment for encouraging horizontal and vertical collaborative innovation of sustainable development of saline–alkali land.