Global–Local Knowledge Spillover Strategic Coupling Network: Biopharmaceutical Industry Study of GBA, China

Abstract

Strategic coupling is a hot field in the research of global production networks. The existing literature mostly consists of studies from the perspective of countries, regions, and enterprises, and relatively lacks the content for describing global–local strategic coupling networks and their evolution path with industries as carriers. The GBA is a bridgehead for China to participate in the global production network. Based on the systematic construction of the strategic coupling network analysis framework of global–local knowledge spillovers, this paper, taking the biopharmaceutical industry of GBA as an example, depicts the evolution process of its coupling network nodes, structures, and networks from 1990 to 2019 by using system analysis, social network analysis, and other methods, and analyzes node centrality, network structure, coupling paths, and their influencing factors. We found that the strategic coupling of global–local knowledge spillover is typically a networked structure, with the network organization presenting a multi-element sub-system hierarchical state. The overall network structure, with knowledge spillover as the carrier, shows obvious phased differences, having gone through three path stages from exploratory to expanding to stable. The path selection shows a spatial progression and a temporal sequence. The main factors affecting the path selection of the coupling network are the bargaining power of regional knowledge, behavioral subjects’ will, and multi-dimensional proximity.