Abstract: Technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) serve as a pivotal force in bolstering independent innovation and facilitating research transformation. Understanding how technology, market forces, and policy mix interact to influence their innovation is crucial for fostering sustainable and high-quality growth among technology-based SMEs. Given the current dearth of comprehensive discussions on multifaceted conditions and mechanisms underlying local technology-based SME innovation, this study draws the Fogg behavior model (FBM) to conceptualize the innovation process of these enterprises as a collective driving behavior jointly shaped by capabilities, motivations, and policy interventions. It introduces an integrated analytical framework to explore the innovation landscape of local technology-based SMEs and employs a dynamic fsQCA method to conduct a configuration analysis of 283 cases from urban technology-based SMEs across China between 2015 and 2022. This analysis incorporates both inter-group and intra-group comparisons to reveal the spatiotemporal distribution disparities in configuration coverage. Our results indicate that: 1)the innovation of technology-based SMEs within a city is jointly propelled by its fundamental capabilities, innovation motivations, and a combination of policy interventions; 2)the synergistic interaction of “capabilities-motivations-policy” forms five distinct configuration paths that facilitate high-level innovation among local technology-based SMEs, exhibiting notable spatiotemporal heterogeneity; 3)under conditions of strong innovation motivation, capabilities and policy intervention combinations enhance the innovation level of local technology-based SMEs through equivalent substitution, achieving similar outcomes through diverse approaches.

Key words: Policy mix, Technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises, Configurational approach, Fogg behavior model, Dynamic fsQCA