The Persistent Innovation Effect of Platform Ecosystem Embeddedness

In the context of the digital economy, corporate innovation is shifting from an internally driven, linear model to a multilateral, collaborative mechanism enabled by platform ecosystems. This study integrates persistent innovation into the analytical framework of platform ecosystem embeddedness and evaluates its impact from two dimensions: innovation input and innovation output. Using panel data from Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed companies between 2012 and 2023, we apply fixed effects models and mediation analysis to empirically examine the mechanisms through which platform ecosystem embeddedness affects innovation. The results show that platform ecosystem embeddedness significantly enhances companies’ persistent innovation. Specifically, it promotes innovation input by reducing supply–demand coordination costs and improving the operational efficiency of the company, and it boosts innovation output by facilitating knowledge flow and knowledge creation. Furthermore, the effects are more pronounced in industries characterized by high competition, rich regional resources, high-tech orientation, and low environmental pollution, where both input and output are strengthened. In contrast, in less competitive, resource-constrained, non-high-tech, and heavily polluting industries, the impact is mainly reflected in innovation output, with limited influence on input.