The Impact of Digital Trade Flows on the Transfer of Patent Technologies among Regions

The development of digital technology not only profoundly reshapes the trade patterns among regions, but also influences the behavior of patent technology transfer among regions through the relationship network formed by digital trade flows. Based on interregional patent transfer data released by the National Intellectual Property Administration and the enterprise value-added tax special invoice data collected by the State Taxation Administration, this study empirically examines the impact of digital trade flows between regions on patent technology transfer behavior using a gravity model. The findings reveal that digital trade flows between regions significantly increase the number of patent technology transfers; a conclusion remains robust after a series of tests, including instrumental variable analysis. Mechanism analysis indicates that digital trade flows between regions enhance the digital infrastructure level of the purchasing region, promote industrial upgrading, and stimulate innovation awareness, thereby increasing the demand for technological innovation and ultimately boosting intercity patent technology transfers. The heterogeneity analysis reveals that the impact of intercity digital trade flows on patent transfers varies depending on the relative geographical location, digitalization level, trade level of the cities, as well as the type of patent transfer. Further extended analysis reveals that a city's degree centrality in the patent technology transfer network decreases, but the strength of the patent technology transfer relationships with selling regions increases. This suggests that purchasing regions are more inclined to engage in patent technology transfers with cities they already have trade ties with, rather than establishing new technological connections.