The influence of patent cooperation network on growth of technology-based SMEs: an example of the pharmaceutical industry in China

In Chapter 4, Wang et al. (2020) analyze how patent cooperation networks influence on innovation performance of enterprises, applied to the case of technology-based SMEs in pharmaceutical industry in China. The patent cooperation networks provide opportunities for this type of knowledge-intensive enterprises to access innovation resources and to improve their innovative capabilities. Based on the specification of the breadth and depth of patent cooperation, this chapter analyzes and classifies the structure of patent cooperation networks. Patent cooperation networks can be divided into two main types, namely exploration and exploitation. The exploration type of patent cooperation networks has more significant positive impact on the enterprise innovation performance than the exploitation type of patent cooperation networks. This chapter proposes that the exploration type of patent cooperation networks provide more breakthrough paths and also opportunities for knowledge-intensive enterprises.