Factors of Collaboration Affecting the Performance of Alternative Energy Patents in South Korea from 2010 to 2017

A Roadmap for Innovation Capacity in Developing Countries

Innovation capacity is a dynamic capacity linked with the achievement of competitive advantage. Several mechanisms have been proposed to evaluate this capacity. However, developing innovation capacity is a complex process, particularly for developing countries, due to the intricacy of its determinants. Hence, this research analyzes the interlinkages between the key determinants driving this capacity to further propose a continuous path for its growth. A comprehensive review of the literature regarding assessing mechanisms for innovation capacity was conducted, which included 14 key innovation determinants. From a contextual and systematic approach, interpretive structural modelling was employed to determine the interlinkages of these determinants and classified as drivers or dependent. Ten levels or steps were drawn from level partitioning of the final reachability matrix. The results show the relevance of promoting and protecting innovation and intellectual property as the ground to develop this capacity. In addition, R&D investment and university–industry collaboration contribute to the consolidation of innovation systems. Utility models, patents, trademarks, and institution prominence are the result of this loop of innovation capacity development. From these findings, policymakers, practitioners, and scholars can draw a sustained roadmap to enhance this dynamic capacity in their countries.

Factors Affecting the Evolution of Technical Cooperation among “Belt and Road Initiative” Countries Based on TERGMs and ERGMs

The Belt and Road Initiative (B&R), was initiated by China in 2013, and it covers over 60% and 30% of the world’s population and GDP, respectively. The initiative has directed a great deal of investment in energy, transportation, and 5G. Whilst much attention has been focused on cooperation in international trade, technological cooperation in the form of patents has been largely ignored. This paper investigates the formation of technological cooperative relationships among B&R countries within a technical cooperation network. Comprehensive consideration of various factors between participating countries was undertaken, using statistical methods from social network analysis theory. The node attributes and relations between countries and the network structure were studied in a sequence of network analyses using temporal exponential random graph models (TERGMs) and static exponential random graph models (ERGMs). The main findings suggest that research ability, financial ability, technological innovation ability, technological spillover proximity, geographical proximity, and technical proximity have an impact on participation in technical cooperation between B&R countries. Research ability, technological spillover proximity, geographical proximity, and technical proximity have a positive influence on the development of cooperation. However, the financial and technological innovation ability of a country does not actively promote the development of cooperation. The entire cooperation network structure does not have a greater aggregation effect compared with a random network, and intermediary multi-path cooperation is not obvious. This paper analyzes the driving factors for technological cooperation through a systematic study of the characteristics and relationships of B&R countries, and also of the network characteristics among B&R countries. The results of our analysis show that the characteristics of technical cooperation in the B&R region provide a reference for the study of international technical cooperation.