Multiple proximities and inter-agency collaboration within a policy network: The case of innovation policymaking in China

Previous innovation studies have not only focused on the nexus between proximity and the structure of innovation networks but also on the drivers of inter-agency collaboration within policy networks. However, a lack of attention has been paid to the role of proximity between agencies in innovation policy networks. To fill this gap in literature, this study examines the impact of institutional, cognitive, social, organizational, and resource proximities on inter-agency collaboration for innovation policymaking. China’s innovation policy network is analyzed from 2010 to 2019. The network consists of 67 government agencies, and the analysis includes a total of 19,899 agency pair-year observations. The results reveal that institutional, cognitive, social, and organizational proximities facilitate inter-agency collaboration. Conversely, resource proximity has been found to impede such collaboration. In terms of the strength of proximity effects on shaping collaboration, social proximity has the largest impact, followed by organizational and institutional proximity. Cognitive proximity, however, exerts the weakest effect of all.