Intangible Capital in Industrial Research: Effects of Network Position on Individual Inventive Productivity

The paper investigates the effects of collaboration networks on inventive productivity within an industrial research environment. A distinction is made between two kinds of network structures: structural holes offering information brokerage opportunities to individuals and network closures supporting co-specialization of individuals. Hypotheses regarding the effects of network positions on the development of technological know-how are tested based on longitudinal individual-level network data. The analysis provides partial support of both the structural hole and the network closure argument. However, contrary to literature emphasizing innovation via inter-organizational collaboration, the positive effects of ties between the research center and business units are highlighted. The interpretation of these results seems to call for more refined models of firm boundaries to better explain how the research activities are organized within firms.