HOW CAN RESEARCH NETWORKS IMPROVE THE INNOVATION PROCESS?

Mats Wilhelmsson

No 108, Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation from Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies

Abstract: Accumulation of human capital is essential for economic growth. An important question is how knowledge spillover into innovations and production. One way of knowledge diffusion is within innovation networks. We investigate innovative networks in patent data in Sweden from 1994-2001. We define research networks with the help of direct and indirect ties among inventors. The main result clearly indicates that those researchers that collaborating, in innovation networks, improves the efficiency of the innovation process by getting more patents applications approved. The odds getting a patent application approved are in the range 1.1 to 1.5 times better if an application is a result from research collaboration. Moreover, the result suggests that collaboration is more important in the IT sector than in the mechanical engineering sector. Finally, the empirical outcomes indicate that networking is more important in less dense areas compared to the denser labor markets. Thus, networks in such areas might be a substitute for agglomeration advantages.

Keywords: Innovation network analysis; patents; success and failure in innovation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N34 O31 R11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 31 pages
Date: 2007-12-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ino, nep-ipr, nep-pr~, nep-knm, nep-net, nep-soc and nep-ure
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hhs:cesisp:0108

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