Abstract: For local governments， what are the factors that affect local governments' innovation sustainability? What is the relationship among these factors? In response to the above questions， the qualitative comparative analysis method was adopted by selecting seven explanatory variables from three levels of subject， resource and utility to analyze the influencing factors of local governments' innovation sustainability in China. It was found that media attention is a necessary condition for local governments' innovation sustainability; higher-level government (leadership) support， academic attention， institutionalization of innovation achievements， and innovation on non-specific issues are sufficient conditions to ensure local governments' innovation sustainability. There are six combinations of sufficient conditions for sustainability， which can be classified into three modes of interpretation， namely， resource support mode， institutional support mode， and innovation diffusion mode. The research results have implications for improving local governments' innovation ability and increasing their innovation vitality and sustainability.

Key words: local governments' innovation; sustainability; qualitative comparative analysis