Configurational pathways and spatio-temporal evolution of value co-creation in smart eldercare services: a regional innovation ecosystem perspective

Shaopeng Zhu, Fangkun Liu and Zhiping Hou

European Journal of Innovation Management, 2026, 1-29

Abstract: PurposeThis study investigates how configurations of regional innovation ecosystem conditions support value co-creation in smart eldercare services, examining both configurational patterns and their spatio-temporal evolution across diverse regional contexts.Design/methodology/approachIntegrating Service-Dominant Logic (SDL) with innovation ecosystem theory, the research employs Panel Qualitative Comparative Analysis (Panel-QCA) on panel data from 30 Chinese provinces spanning 2013–2023.FindingsThree configurational patterns achieve high-level value co-creation: an actor-environment-resource multi-driven pattern, an actor-resource dual-driven pattern under constrained market openness, and an environment-driven pattern enabled by industry-university-research collaboration. These patterns exhibit a gradient spatial evolution from eastern multi-driven models to central dual-driven models and western environment-driven models. Temporally, they transition from holistic factor accumulation during the formation stage to core condition differentiation with peripheral condition complementarity during the expansion stage.Practical implicationsIt provides policy insights for regions with diverse resource endowments and developmental stages to formulate differentiated smart eldercare service strategies.Originality/valueThis study extends SDL and innovation ecosystem theory by operationalizing the distinction between micro-level co-creation processes and macro-level structural capacity, demonstrating that regional capacity to support value co-creation emerges from configurational synergies rather than isolated factors.

Keywords: Regional innovation ecosystem; Value co-creation in smart eldercare services; Public resource allocation; Configurational pathway evolution (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:ejimpp:ejim-05-2026-0599

DOI: 10.1108/EJIM-05-2026-0599

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