Research on the Collaborative Innovation Mechanism Between Core Enterprises and Suppliers — An Empirical Analysis Based on the Dual Dimensions of Trust and Contract

Against the background of global industrial iteration, collaborative innovation between core enterprises and suppliers has become an important path for improving technological competitiveness and resource-integration efficiency in manufacturing systems. As two major governance mechanisms, trust and contract can reduce cooperation risks, promote knowledge flow, and support joint innovation. Based on transaction cost theory, social exchange theory, and resource dependence theory, this paper constructs a theoretical model of the dual-dimensional effects of trust, including cognitive trust and emotional trust, and contract, including formal contract and relational contract, on collaborative innovation performance. It further examines the mediating role of knowledge sharing and the moderating effect of environmental dynamism. Questionnaire data from 286 core manufacturing enterprises are analyzed using SPSS 26.0 and AMOS 24.0. The results show that cognitive trust, emotional trust, and relational contract significantly improve collaborative innovation performance, while the direct effect of formal contract is not significant. Knowledge sharing partially mediates the effects of cognitive trust, emotional trust, and relational contract, and fully mediates the effect of formal contract. Environmental dynamism positively moderates the relationships between cognitive trust, relational contract, and knowledge sharing. The study provides governance references for collaborative innovation in complex engineering supply chains, including high-reliability electromagnetic equipment manufacturing.