Collaboration Networks and Innovation: How to Define Network Boundaries

Galaso, Pablo and Kovářík, Jaromír (2018): Collaboration Networks and Innovation: How to Define Network Boundaries.

Abstract

Numerous studies in management, sociology, and economics have documented that the architecture of collaboration networks affects the innovation performance of individuals, firms, and regions. Little is known though about whether the association between collaboration patterns and innovation outcomes depends on the network geographical boundaries chosen by the researcher. This issue is crucial for both policy-makers and firms that rely on innovation. This article compares the association between collaboration networks and future patenting between regional and country-level collaboration networks. If we relate future innovation to the global, country-wide network our statistical analysis reproduces the findings of the previous literature. However, we find systematically less important effects of regional innovation patterns on subsequent patenting of innovators. Hence, managers and policy makers should choose the boundaries of the innovation networks that they look at carefully, aiming for integration into larger-scale collaboration communities.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: innovation, networks, patents, network boundary, boundary specification problem
• Subjects: O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Innovation ; Research and Development ; Technological Change ; Intellectual Property Rights > O31 - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Innovation ; Research and Development ; Technological Change ; Intellectual Property Rights > O32 - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O3 - Innovation ; Research and Development ; Technological Change ; Intellectual Property Rights > O34 - Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital; R - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics > R1 - General Regional Economics > R11 - Regional Economic Activity: Growth, Development, Environmental Issues, and Changes

References

Agresti, A. (1996). An Introduction to Categorical Data Analysis. Wiley.

Ahuja, G. (2000). Collaboration Networks, Structural Holes, and Innovation: A Longitudinal Study. Administrative Science Quarterly, 45(3), 425–455. https://doi.org/10.2307/2667105 Allen, R. C. (1983). Collective invention. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 4(1), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/0167-2681(83)90023-9

Almeida, P., Hohberger, J., & Parada, P. (2011). Individual scientific collaborations and firm-level innovation. Industrial and Corporate Change, 20(6), 1571–1599. https://doi.org/10.1093/icc/dtr030

Almeida, P., & Kogut, B. (1999). Localization of Knowledge and the Mobility of Engineers in Regional Networks. Management Science, 45(7), 905–917. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.45.7.905

Andersen, B. (2001). Technological Change and the Evolution of Corporate Innovation: The Structure of Patenting, 1890-1990. Edward Elgar Publishing.

Archibugi, D. (1992). Patenting as an indicator of technological innovation: a review. Science and Public Policy, 19(6), 357–368. https://doi.org/10.1093/spp/19.6.357

Bathelt, H., Malmberg, A., & Maskell, P. (2004). Clusters and knowledge: local buzz, global pipelines and the process of knowledge creation. Progress in Human Geography, 28(1), 31–56. https://doi.org/10.1191/0309132504ph469oa

Becattini, G. (2004). Industrial Districts: A New Approach to Industrial Change. Edward Elgar Publishing.

Bettencourt, L. M. A., Lobo, J., & Strumsky, D. (2007). Invention in the city: Increasing returns to patenting as a scaling function of metropolitan size. Research Policy, 36(1), 107–120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2006.09.026

Breschi, S., & Lenzi, C. (2016). Co-invention networks and inventive productivity in US cities. Journal of Urban Economics, 92, 66–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jue.2015.12.003

Breschi, S., & Lissoni, F. (2009). Mobility of skilled workers and co-invention networks: an anatomy of localized knowledge flows. Journal of Economic Geography, 1–30. https://doi.org/10.1093/jeg/lbp008

Brusco, S. (1999). The rules of the game in industrial districts. In A. Grandori (Ed.), Interfirm Networks: Organization and Industrial Competitiveness. Routledge.

Burt, R. S. (2000). The Network Structure Of Social Capital. Research in Organizational Behavior, 22, 345–423. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-3085(00)22009-1

Cairncross, F. (2001). The Death of Distance: How the Communications Revolution is Changing Our Lives. Harvard Business School Press.

Cameron, A. C., & Trivedi, P. K. (2005). Microeconometrics: Methods and Applications. Cambridge University Press.

Carlino, G. A., Chatterjee, S., & Hunt, R. M. (2007). Urban density and the rate of invention. Journal of Urban Economics, 61(3), 389–419. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jue.2006.08.003

Carlsson, B., Jacobsson, S., Holmén, M., & Rickne, A. (2002). Innovation systems: analytical and methodological issues. Research policy, 31(2), 233-245. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0048-7333(01)00138-X

Chandrasekhar, A. G., & Lewis, R. (2016). Econometrics of sampled networks.

Coffano, M., Foray, D., & Pezzoni, M. (2017). Does inventor centrality foster regional innovation? The case of the Swiss medical devices sector. Regional Studies, 51(8), 1206–1218. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2017.1329585

Cooke, P. N. (1996). Regional innovation systems: an evolutionary approach. In P. N. Cooke, M. Heidenreich, & H.-J. Braczyk (Eds.), Regional Innovation Systems: The Role of Governance in a Globalized World. Psychology Press.

Cooke, P., Uranga, M. G., & Etxebarria, G. (1998). Regional Systems of Innovation: An Evolutionary Perspective. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 30(9), 1563–1584. https://doi.org/10.1068/a301563

Crespo, J., Suire, R., & Vicente, J. (2016). Network structural properties for cluster long-run dynamics: evidence from collaborative R&D networks in the European mobile phone industry. Industrial and Corporate Change, 25(2), 261–282. https://doi.org/10.1093/icc/dtv032

de Faria, P., Lima, F., & Santos, R. (2010). Cooperation in innovation activities: The importance of partners. Research Policy, 39(8), 1082–1092. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2010.05.003

Edquist, C., & Johnson, B. H. (1997). Institutions and Organisations in Systems of Innovation. In C. Edquist (Ed.), Systems of Innovation: Technologies, Institutions, and Organizations. Pinter.

Fleming, L., King, C., & Juda, A. I. (2007). Small Worlds and Regional Innovation. Organization Science, 18(6), 938–954. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1070.0289

Freeman, C. (1987). Technology, policy, and economic performance: lessons from Japan. Pinter Publishers.

Galaso, P. (2018). Network topologies as collective social capital in cities and regions: a critical review of empirical studies. European Planning Studies, 26(3), 571–590. https://doi.org/10.1080/09654313.2017.1406898

Glaeser, E. L. (1999). Learning in Cities. Journal of Urban Economics, 46(2), 254–277. https://doi.org/10.1006/juec.1998.2121

Glaeser, E. L., Kallal, H. D., Scheinkman, J. A., & Shleifer, A. (1992). Growth in Cities. Journal of Political Economy, 100(6), 1126–1152.

Graf, H. (2011). Gatekeepers in regional networks of innovators. Cambridge Journal of Economics, 35(1), 173–198. https://doi.org/10.1093/cje/beq001

Granovetter, M. (1985). Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness. American Journal of Sociology, 91(3), 481–510.

Granovetter, M. S. (1973). The Strength of Weak Ties. American Journal of Sociology, 78(6), 1360–1380. https://doi.org/10.1086/225469

Griliches, Z. (1990). Patent Statistics as Economic Indicators: A Survey. Journal of Economic Literature, 28, 1661–1707.

Hausman, J., Hall, B. H., & Griliches, Z. (1984). Econometric Models for Count Data with an Application to the Patents-R & D Relationship. Econometrica, 52(4), 909–938. https://doi.org/10.2307/1911191

Jaffe, A. B., Trajtenberg, M., & Henderson, R. (1993). Geographic Localization of Knowledge Spillovers as Evidenced by Patent Citations. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 108(3), 577–598. https://doi.org/10.2307/2118401

Jones, B. F., Wuchty, S., & Uzzi, B. (2008). Multi-University Research Teams: Shifting Impact, Geography, and Stratification in Science. Science, 322(5905), 1259–1262. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1158357

Katz, J. S., & Martin, B. R. (1997). What is research collaboration? Research Policy, 26(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0048-7333(96)00917-1

Kaufmann, A., Lehner, P., & Tödtling, F. (2003). Effects of the Internet on the spatial structure of innovation networks. Information Economics and Policy, 15(3), 402–424. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0167-6245(03)00005-2

Koput, K. W. (1997). A Chaotic Model of Innovative Search: Some Answers, Many Questions. Organization Science, 8(5), 528–542. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.8.5.528

Laumann, E. O., Marsden, P. V., & Prensky, D. (1989). The boundary specification problem in network analysis. In L. C. Freeman, D. R. White, & A. K. Romney (Eds.), Research Methods in Social Network Analysis. Transaction Publishers.

Lobo, J., & Strumsky, D. (2008). Metropolitan patenting, inventor agglomeration and social networks: A tale of two effects. Journal of Urban Economics, 63(3), 871–884. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jue.2007.07.005

Lundvall, B.-Å. (1992). National Systems of Innovation: Toward a Theory of Innovation and Interactive Learning. Anthem Press.

Maillat, D. (1995). Territorial dynamic, innovative milieus and regional policy. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 7(2), 157–165. https://doi.org/10.1080/08985629500000010

Nelson, R. R., & Winter, S. G. (1982). An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change. Harvard University Press.

Owen-Smith, J., & Powell, W. W. (2004). Knowledge Networks as Channels and Conduits: The Effects of Spillovers in the Boston Biotechnology Community. Organization Science, 15(1), 5–21. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1030.0054

Phelps, C., Heidl, R., & Wadhwa, A. (7). Knowledge, Networks, and Knowledge Networks A Review and Research Agenda. Journal of Management, 38(4), 1115–1166. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206311432640

Pippel, G. (2013). The impact of R&D collaboration networks on the performance of firms: a meta-analysis of the evidence. International Journal of Networking and Virtual Organisations, 12(4), 352–373. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJNVO.2013.057282

Porter, M. E. (2000). Location, Competition, and Economic Development: Local Clusters in a Global Economy. Economic Development Quarterly, 14(1), 15–34. https://doi.org/10.1177/089124240001400105

Saxenian, A. (1994). Regional Advantage. Harvard University Press.

Schilling, M. A., & Phelps, C. C. (2007). Interfirm Collaboration Networks: The Impact of Large-Scale Network Structure on Firm Innovation. Management Science, 53(7), 1113–1126. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.1060.0624

Scott, A. J., & Storper, M. (1992). Regional development reconsidered. In H. Ernste & V. Meier (Eds.), Regional development and contemporary industrial response : extending flexible specialisation (pp. 3–24). London ; New York : Belhaven Press. Retrieved from https://trove.nla.gov.au/version/25122366

Singh, J. (2005). Collaborative Networks as Determinants of Knowledge Diffusion Patterns. Management Science, 51(5), 756–770. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.1040.0349

Uzzi, B. (2008). A social network’s changing statistical properties and the quality of human innovation. Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical, 41(22), 224023. https://doi.org/10.1088/1751-8113/41/22/224023

Uzzi, B., & Spiro, J. (2005). Collaboration and Creativity: The Small World Problem. American Journal of Sociology, 111(2), 447–504. https://doi.org/10.1086/432782

Wal, A. L. J. T. (2013). Cluster Emergence and Network Evolution: A Longitudinal Analysis of the Inventor Network in Sophia-Antipolis. Regional Studies, 47(5), 651–668. https://doi.org/10.1080/00343401003614258

Wal, A. L. J. T., & Boschma, R. A. (2009). Applying social network analysis in economic geography: framing some key analytic issues. The Annals of Regional Science, 43(3), 739–756. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00168-008-0258-3

Wasserman, S., & Faust, K. (1994). Social Network Analysis: Methods and Applications. Cambridge University Press.

Watts, D. J., & Strogatz, S. H. (1998). Collective dynamics of “small-world” networks. Nature, 393(6684), 440–442. https://doi.org/10.1038/30918

Whittington, K. B., Owen-Smith, J., & Powell, W. W. (2009). Networks, Propinquity, and Innovation in Knowledge-Intensive Industries. Administrative Science Quarterly, 54(1), 90–122.

Wuchty, S., Jones, B. F., & Uzzi, B. (2007). The Increasing Dominance of Teams in Production of Knowledge. Science. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1136099