{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,9]],"date-time":"2026-04-09T00:36:25Z","timestamp":1775694985418,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":55,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,2,18]],"date-time":"2024-02-18T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1708214400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"National Social Science Post-Funded Project of China, National Office for Philosophy and Social Sciences","award":["22FJYB008"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["22FJYB008"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Systems"],"abstract":"<jats:p>In response to Boschma\u2019s concern that the implications of relatedness- and unrelatedness-based diversification strategies lack empirical evidence at disaggregated levels and in the context of the Global South, this study generates a unique dataset at the city level and explores how these smart specialization strategies (S3) may explain digital industry innovations within a specific regional innovation system, i.e., the Yangtze River Delta, China. The findings reveal that both relatedness density and knowledge complexity play a positive role in explaining digital industry innovations. However, the relationship between relatedness and knowledge complexity and its interactive effects on innovation performance are less straightforward. In our study, we found that efficient cooperation between relatedness and complexity can only be achieved if the level of government intervention is moderate. Therefore, the discussion of S3 focuses on more than the dichotomous argument between relatedness and unrelatedness. Many socio-economic factors also impact the effectiveness of these theoretical components within different innovation systems, which are largely overlooked by present studies.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/systems12020062","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,2,20]],"date-time":"2024-02-20T05:10:04Z","timestamp":1708405804000},"page":"62","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Understanding the Role of Smart Specialization Strategies (S3) within a Regional Innovation System: Evidence from Digital Industries in the Yangtze River Delta, China"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Zhen","family":"Yue","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Foreign Studies, Xi\u2019an Jiaotong University, Xi\u2019an  710049, China"},{"name":"Soft Science Research Base of Shaanxi High-Quality Economic Development, Xi\u2019an Jiatong University, Xi\u2019an 710061, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Meisha","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Marxism, Changan University, Xi\u2019an 710064, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Shuran","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Economics and Finance, Xi\u2019an Jiaotong University, Xi\u2019an 710061, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2050-9483","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kai","family":"Zhao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Soft Science Research Base of Shaanxi High-Quality Economic Development, Xi\u2019an Jiatong University, Xi\u2019an 710061, China"},{"name":"School of Economics and Finance, Xi\u2019an Jiaotong University, Xi\u2019an 710061, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,2,18]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"519","article-title":"The Use of Knowledge in Society","volume":"35","author":"Hayek","year":"1945","journal-title":"Am. 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