Agric. Econ. - Czech, 2025, 71(6):285-297 | DOI: 10.17221/369/2024-AGRICECON

Structural characteristics and determinants of the patent collaboration network in China's agricultural sectorOriginal Paper

Xiao Cheng^1,2

¹ Institute of Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Circle Construction, Chongqing Technology and Business University, Chongqing, P.R. China

² School of Economics, Chongqing Technology and Business University, Chongqing, P.R. China

Drawing upon data on co-signed patents in China's agricultural sector between 2015 and 2022, this paper explores the structural characteristics and determinants of the patent collaboration network in agricultural technology involving universities (U), enterprises (E) and research institutes (R). The results of social network analysis (SNA) revealed that the patent collaboration network is expanding in scale, but innovators are sparsely connected to others. Although the subnetwork linked by enterprises is the largest, universities and research institutes are more likely to play roles as hubs and bridges in the network. Furthermore, quadratic assignment procedure (QAP) regression revealed that prior collaboration experience and geographical proximity are key factors that promote co-patenting in the agricultural sector. Compared with U–U partnerships, E–E and E–R partnerships are associated with decreased patent collaboration. In the agriculture and forestry industries, the U–U and U–R partnerships are most likely involved in co-patenting, followed by the R–R and U–E partnerships. In the animal husbandry and fishery industries, no significant difference was found between the partnerships of U–U, R–R, U–E and U–R in their collaborative propensity.

Keywords: patents; collaborative innovation; agriculture; proximity; social network analysis

Received: September 30, 2024; Revised: March 5, 2025; Accepted: March 31, 2025; Prepublished online: June 25, 2025; Published: June 27, 2025  Show citation