生态系统的创新与协调：理论、证据和战略意义

Abstract

This dissertation investigates the emergence of highly complex and dynamically evolving technological ecosystems, and how they shape firm strategies and industrial development in the context of modern high-tech environments. The core research question is: how do technological ecosystems—as a new organizational form for managing value creation—foster the evolution of innovation, coordination, and competitive strategies through dynamic interfirm interactions in environments characterized by high complexity and uncertainty? To address this question, the study focuses on three key dimensions: (1) the adaptive capacity of innovation and coordination mechanisms in the face of complexity and uncertainty; (2) the mirrored effects of technological and organizational interdependencies on innovation and coordination; and (3) the asymmetric mechanisms between value creation and value capture in ecosystems. Centered on the theme of“innovation and coordination,”the dissertation integrates empirical analysis, NK model simulations, and formal theoretical modeling to examine, respectively, the incentive effects of external shocks, the internal complexity management of innovation and coordination, and the optimal resource allocation strategies for firms within ecosystems. This multi-level approach aims to provide theoretical insight and empirical evidence to inform both business strategy and policy design.
First, the study focuses on external shocks, taking the non-market intervention of the 2018 U.S. Export Control Reform Act (ECRA), which restricted coordination in China’s semiconductor industry, as an empirical context. It examines how externally imposed coordination constraints stimulate firms’innovation and adaptive responses, revealing the mechanisms by which firms develop innovation and coordination capacities under such constraints. The empirical analysis finds that rather than suppressing innovation, external coordination constraints encourage firms to increase innovation investments, especially in bottleneck technology domains where coordination is obstructed.
Second, beyond adaptive responses, the study further explores the mutual constraints and optimization mechanisms of innovation and coordination within ecosystems. Using NK model simulations, it analyzes how intra-product technological complexity (modularity) and inter-product dependency complexity (ecosystem interdependence) jointly shape firm-level innovation and coordination strategies. The findings suggest that in relatively stable technological environments, effective ecosystem coordination enhances local innovation efficiency and mitigates losses caused by internal complexity. However, in rapidly changing contexts, high interdependence may reduce firms’ adaptive capacity. The results further indicate that vertically integrating complex components and managing coordination effectively can significantly enhance firm innovation performance within modular ecosystems.
Furthermore, the study develops a formal theoretical model to analyze firms’optimal resource allocation decisions for innovation and coordination. By introducing two critical ecosystem variables—innovation bottlenecks (technological potential ceilings) and coordination thresholds—and drawing inspiration from neural network activation functions, the model captures how ecosystem participants maximize utility under budget constraints through strategic allocation of innovation and coordination efforts. It also provides a unified theoretical framework to address ecosystem heterogeneity, coordination cost dynamics, and the asymmetry between value creation and value capture. Model outcomes show that technological distance, economies of scale, and relative sensitivity significantly influence firms’optimal investment structures. Based on these results, the study identifies four strategic archetypes—Shapers, Coordinators, Adapters, and Extenders—that offer a clear framework
for understanding heterogeneous strategic choices within ecosystems.
In sum, through empirical analysis of external shocks, simulation of internal strategies using NK models, and the development of a formal optimization model for resource allocation, this dissertation systematically demonstrates the critical role of innovation and coordination in shaping ecosystem strategies and firm competitiveness. It contributes to the theoretical understanding of technological ecosystems, offers actionable guidance for strategic decision-making, and provides theoretical support and policy recommendations for ecosystem governance.

Date of Award	26 May 2025
Original language	Chinese (Simplified)
Awarding Institution	China Europe International Business School
Supervisor	Wei Yang (Supervisor) & 吴迅 (Supervisor)