IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/jrp/jrpwrp/2016-021.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The selective nature of innovator networks: from the nascent to the early growth phase of the organizational life cycle

Author

Listed:
  • Uwe Cantner

    () (School of Economics and Business Administration, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena)

  • Tina Wolf

    (University of Southern Denmark, Department of Marketing and Management)

Abstract

Earlier studies have shown that entrepreneurs play a key role in shaping regional development. Innovator networks where these entrepreneurs are members of have been identified as one among many critical factors for their firms' success. This paper intents to go one step further and analyses in how far differing characteristics of these networks lead to different firm performances along the early stages of the organizational life cycle (nascent stage, emergent stage, early growth stage). A sample of 149 patenting (innovative) firms in Thuringia is analysed, using data from the commercial register and the German patent office. The results show that there is an inverted u-shaped relationship between the chances of a firm to survive and the connectivity of the network the firms are connected to but only in the later stage of the early organizational life cycle; while the structure of the ego-network never plays a role. A quite central position in the network shows-up to be unfavourable.

Suggested Citation

  • Uwe Cantner & Tina Wolf, 2016. "The selective nature of innovator networks: from the nascent to the early growth phase of the organizational life cycle," Jena Economic Research Papers 2016-021, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    • Handle: RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2016-021
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www2.wiwi.uni-jena.de/Papers/jerp2016/wp_2016_021.pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Murray, Fiona, 2004. "The role of academic inventors in entrepreneurial firms: sharing the laboratory life," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 643-659, May.
    2. Pierre-Alexandre Balland & Ron Boschma & Koen Frenken, 2015. "Proximity and Innovation: From Statics to Dynamics," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(6), pages 907-920, June.
    3. Uwe Cantner & Michael Stützer, 2010. "The Use and Effect of Social Capital in New Venture Creation - Solo Entrepreneurs vs. New Venture Teams," Jena Economic Research Papers 2010-012, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    4. Granato, Nadia & Farhauer, Oliver, 2007. "Die Abgrenzung von Arbeitsmarktregionen: Gütekriterien und -maßzahlen," Discussion Papers 2007/2, Technische Universität Berlin, School of Economics and Management.
    5. Parker,Simon C., 2009. "The Economics of Entrepreneurship," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521728355, March.
    6. Eric Bartelsman & Stefano Scarpetta & Fabiano Schivardi, 2005. "Comparative analysis of firm demographics and survival: evidence from micro-level sources in OECD countries," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press, vol. 14(3), pages 365-391, June.
    7. Gilsing, Victor & Nooteboom, Bart & Vanhaverbeke, Wim & Duysters, Geert & van den Oord, Ad, 2008. "Network embeddedness and the exploration of novel technologies: Technological distance, betweenness centrality and density," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(10), pages 1717-1731, December.
    8. Ejermo, Olof & Karlsson, Charlie, 2006. "Interregional inventor networks as studied by patent coinventorships," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 412-430, April.
    9. Nooteboom, B. & Gilsing, V.A., 2004. "Density And Strength Of Ties In Innovation Networks: A Competence And Governance View," ERIM Report Series Research in Management ERS-2004-005-ORG, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam.
    10. Gordon Walker & Bruce Kogut & Weijian Shan, 1997. "Social Capital, Structural Holes and the Formation of an Industry Network," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 8(2), pages 109-125, April.
    11. Ostgaard, Tone A. & Birley, Sue, 1994. "Personal networks and firm competitive strategy--A strategic or coincidental match?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 9(4), pages 281-305, July.
    12. Uwe Cantner & Holger Graf, 2010. "Growth, Development and Structural Change of Innovator Networks: The Case of Jena," Chapters, in: Ron Boschma & Ron Martin (ed.), The Handbook of Evolutionary Economic Geography, chapter 17, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    13. David B. Audretsch, 1995. "Innovation and Industry Evolution," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262011468.
    14. Meagher, Kieron & Rogers, Mark, 2004. "Network density and R&D spillovers," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 53(2), pages 237-260, February.
    15. Breschi, Stefano & Catalini, Christian, 2010. "Tracing the links between science and technology: An exploratory analysis of scientists' and inventors' networks," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 14-26, February.
    16. Lobo, José & Strumsky, Deborah, 2008. "Metropolitan patenting, inventor agglomeration and social networks: A tale of two effects," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(3), pages 871-884, May.
    17. Heckmann, Markus & Schnabel, Claus, 2005. "Überleben und Beschäftigungsentwicklung neu gegründeter Betriebe," Discussion Papers 39, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Chair of Labour and Regional Economics.
    18. Parker,Simon C., 2009. "The Economics of Entrepreneurship," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521899604, March.
    19. Uwe Cantner & Tina Wolf, 2016. "On regional innovator networks as hubs for innovative ventures," Jena Economic Research Papers 2016-006, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    20. Chaim Fershtman & Neil Gandal, 2011. "Direct and indirect knowledge spillovers: the “social network” of open‐source projects," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 42(1), pages 70-91, March.
    21. Uwe Cantner & Maximilian Goethner & Michael Stuetzer, 2010. "Disentangling the Effects of New Venture Team Functional Heterogeneity on New Venture Performance," Jena Economic Research Papers 2010-029, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    22. Balconi, Margherita & Breschi, Stefano & Lissoni, Francesco, 2004. "Networks of inventors and the role of academia: an exploration of Italian patent data," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 127-145, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Innovation; Entrepreneurship; Networks; Inventor; Patents; Survival;

    JEL classification:

    • L25 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Performance
    • L26 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Entrepreneurship
    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General
    • L14 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Transactional Relationships; Contracts and Reputation

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2016-021. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: (Markus Pasche). General contact details of provider: http://www.wiwiss.uni-jena.de/ .

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service hosted by the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis . RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.