The DOI matches its Crossref record; 75 of the 75 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Small Worlds and Regional Innovation
Open accessAbstract
Small-world networks have attracted much theoretical attention and are widely thought to enhance creativity. Yet empirical studies of their evolution and evidence of their benefits remain scarce. We develop and exploit a novel database on patent coauthorship to investigate the effects of collaboration networks on innovation. Our analysis reveals the existence of regional small-world structures and the emergence and disappearance of giant components in patent collaboration networks. Using statistical models, we test and fail to find evidence that small-world structure (cohesive clusters connected by occasional nonlocal ties) enhances innovative productivity within geographic regions. We do find that both shorter path lengths and larger connected components correlate with increased innovation. We discuss the implications of our findings for future social network research and theory as well as regional innovation policies.
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Cites
Collective dynamics of ‘small-world’ networks
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Barabási, A.-L., & Albert, R. (1999) · Science · doi:10.1126/science.286.5439.509 · Cited by 36,135
Economic Action and Social Structure: The Problem of Embeddedness
Granovetter, M. (1985) · American Journal of Sociology · doi:10.1086/228311 · Cited by 28,745
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Social Network Analysis: Methods and Applications
Wasserman, S., & Faust, K. (1994) · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511815478 · Cited by 17,557
Knowledge of the firm, combinative capabilities, and the replication of technology
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Technical Change and the Aggregate Production Function
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Cited by
Dynamics of Dyads in Social Networks: Assortative, Relational, and Proximity Mechanisms
Rivera, M. T., Soderstrom, S. B., & Uzzi, B. (2010) · Annual Review of Sociology · doi:10.1146/annurev.soc.34.040507.134743 · Cited by 939
Carnabuci, G., & Operti, E. (2013) · Strategic Management Journal · doi:10.1002/smj.2084 · Cited by 596
Knowledge networks in the Dutch aviation industry: the proximity paradox
Broekel, T., & Boschma, R. (2012) · Journal of Economic Geography · doi:10.1093/jeg/lbr010 · Cited by 587
Networks, Propinquity, and Innovation in Knowledge-intensive Industries
Whittington, K. B., Owen-Smith, J., & Powell, W. W. (2009) · Administrative Science Quarterly · doi:10.2189/asqu.2009.54.1.90 · Cited by 576
Spatial Science and Network Science: Review and Outcomes of a Complex Relationship
Ducruet, C., & Beauguitte, L. (2014) · Networks and Spatial Economics · doi:10.1007/s11067-013-9222-6 · Cited by 193
Metadata
- Authors
- Fleming, L., King, C., & Juda, A. I.
- Venue
- Organization Science
- Published
- 2007-12
- Volume
- 18
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 938-954
- ISSN
- 1047-7039 (ISSN-L)
- 1526-5455
- OpenAlex
- W3125801320
- Cited by
- 659
- References
- 75
- FWCI
- 14.82
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
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Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).
Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.
