Abstract:
Regional economic integration continues to advance deeply, with the flow of factors breaking through the geographical“neighbourly” restrictions. The enhancement of factor coupling depends not only on their own attributes but also on spatial association effects. The coupling coordination model was adopted to measure the level of coupling coordination among the innovation chain, industrial chain, capital chain, and talent chain (referred to as “four chains”) within provincial regions in our country. Based on the measurement results, the social network analysis (SNA) method was employed to investigate the structural characteristics of the spatial association network of the “four chains” across provincial regions. The quadratic assignment procedure (QAP) was employed to explore influencing factors of the coupling among the “four chains” in provincial regions. The results show that from 2016 to 2021, the coupling coordination of “four chains”in provincial regions of our country has been steadily increasing, but the overall it still remains at a low level, exhibiting an uneven distribution characteristic of “high in the east, low in the west”. In terms of overall network characteristics, the tightness of the “four chains” coupling coordination space network shows a fluctuating upward trend, but there is still significant room for improvement in the whole. Shanghai, Jiangsu, Beijing and other regions are in the core position, while Hainan, Ningxia, Xinjiang and other regions are in the marginal position, and the “core–edge” structure characteristics are obvious. The intensity of scientific and technological innovation investment, economic level, and the intensity of education investment have a significant impact on the “four chains” coupling spatial correlation in province regions. It is recommended to establish linkage awareness, mitigate constraints such as distance, and promote the flow of resources and factors between regions, formulate differentiated regional development policies, optimize the spatial network structure, narrow the interregional gaps, and further promote the deep coupling and coordinated development of the “four chains”.