THE INFLUENCE OF INSTITUTION AND CULTURE ON THE NETWORK STRUCTURE OF TRANSNATIONAL KNOWLEDGE COOPERATION AMONG COUNTRIES ALONG THE BELT AND ROAD: BASED ON THE EXPONENTIAL RANDOM GRAPH MODEL

Xiang KONG; Jin-cao WU; Ze-peng HU; Xin SU

doi:10.13959/j.issn.1003-2398.2026.01.002

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HUMAN GEOGRAPHY ›› 2026, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (1) : 12-21. DOI: 10.13959/j.issn.1003-2398.2026.01.002

Culture

THE INFLUENCE OF INSTITUTION AND CULTURE ON THE NETWORK STRUCTURE OF TRANSNATIONAL KNOWLEDGE COOPERATION AMONG COUNTRIES ALONG THE BELT AND ROAD: BASED ON THE EXPONENTIAL RANDOM GRAPH MODEL

Xiang KONG ¹^,² ,
Jin-cao WU ¹^,² ,
Ze-peng HU ¹^,² ,
Xin SU ¹^,²^,*

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Abstract

Scientific and technological innovation plays a leading and supportive role in the Belt and Road Initiative(BRI). However, institutional and cultural differences among participating countries may exert potential impacts on their knowledge collaboration. This study employs social network analysis and exponential random graph model to investigate the structural dynamics of transnational knowledge collaboration networks across 65 BRI countries from 2016 to 2021, with particular focus on the mechanisms through which institutional and cultural factors operate. The results indicate: 1) The intensity and scale of knowledge cooperation among BRI countries have continuously increased, forming a "core-semi-periphery-periphery" structure and differentiating into two stable communities: a Central Asia-Eastern Europe cluster and a Southeast Asia-West Asia cluster. 2) The network demonstrates clustering tendencies and self-organizing characteristics, significantly influenced by institutional and cultural environments. 3) In terms of institutional proximity, countries sharing similar economic, political, and legal systems are more likely to collaborate. Regarding cultural proximity, a shared language fosters cooperation, with the influence of an official language exceeding that of a spoken language.

Key words

transnational knowledge cooperation network / institutional proximity / cultural proximity / ERGM / the Belt and Road

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Xiang KONG , Jin-cao WU , Ze-peng HU , et al. THE INFLUENCE OF INSTITUTION AND CULTURE ON THE NETWORK STRUCTURE OF TRANSNATIONAL KNOWLEDGE COOPERATION AMONG COUNTRIES ALONG THE BELT AND ROAD: BASED ON THE EXPONENTIAL RANDOM GRAPH MODEL[J]. HUMAN GEOGRAPHY. 2026, 41(1): 12-21 https://doi.org/10.13959/j.issn.1003-2398.2026.01.002

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