Structural characteristics and determinants of an international green technological collaboration network

Abstract

Green technologies are key factors in mitigating climate change and reducing carbon emissions, but, compared to other technologies, they are more complex and require close cooperation between countries. This research applies social network analysis and a quadratic assignment procedure (QAP) to explore the structural characteristics and determinants of a global green technological collaboration network from 2000 to 2018, based on 456,945 patents. The results show that the number of countries involved in green technology cooperation is rapidly growing; however, the cooperative network is far from complete or regular and presents obvious core–periphery structural features. The United States and Canada, Germany and France, and China and Japan are, respectively, at the center of the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Block model results indicate that the pattern of global green technological cooperation centers on core countries and is led by core countries and strong semi-peripheral countries. QAP regression analysis shows that economic proximity, technological proximity, social proximity, and strict environment regulations are key factors that promote international green technological collaboration. The determinants of green technology cooperation within each continent are also heterogeneous. Lastly, policy recommendations are provided based on the results.