{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,9]],"date-time":"2025-10-09T00:40:51Z","timestamp":1759970451338,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":55,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,19]],"date-time":"2025-01-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1737244800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["72104015"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["72104015"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Systems"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This study examines the regional co-funding network as a novel framework for advancing high-quality fundamental research amid systemic reforms in science funding. Based on provincial joint funding data from Mainland China retrieved via the WoS-SCIE and SSCI databases (2013\u20132022), an interprovincial co-funding network was constructed. Social network analysis, kernel density estimation, and fixed-effects regression analysis were employed to explore the evolution of regional location advantages and their impact on technological innovation. The findings reveal that the co-funding network has become increasingly balanced over time, significantly enhancing the location-based innovation advantages of individual provinces and strengthening the network\u2019s overall capacity to foster innovation. This improved equilibrium has positively influenced regional scientific output, demonstrating that a province\u2019s position within the co-funding network\u2014particularly its individual location advantage\u2014plays a pivotal role in advancing technological progress. However, persistent disparities in regional collaboration and development remain, underscoring the need for more coordinated strategies to address uneven growth dynamics. By introducing the co-funding network as an analytical lens, this study uncovers the hidden channels of resource synergy and their influence on regional innovation. The results provide actionable insights for optimizing co-funding mechanisms and enhancing interprovincial collaboration to maximize innovation potential in China.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/systems13010058","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,20]],"date-time":"2025-01-20T10:32:15Z","timestamp":1737369135000},"page":"58","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["From Location Advantage to Innovation: Exploring Interprovincial Co-Funding Networks in Mainland China"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1717-9719","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Feifei","family":"Wang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Economics and Management, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-2685-7975","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hanbai","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Economics and Management, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China"}]},{"given":"Yuxuan","family":"An","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Economics and Management, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China"}]},{"given":"Rui","family":"Xue","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Economics and Management, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China"}]},{"given":"Yuanke","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Economics and Management, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China"}]},{"given":"Tianqi","family":"Hao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Economics and Management, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,1,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Cai, F., Ma, Y., and Jin, Z. 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