Page - (000312) - in Knowledge and Networks

309 the gatekeeping function among few individuals is positively associated with tech- nological recombination and may at least partially compensate for the generally negative effect of gatekeepers. Here, we can only offer a speculative interpretation of this finding. As already mentioned above and as pointed out in the organizational literature, effective gatekeepers are a relatively “rare breed and few networks have many of them” (Cross & Prusak, 2002, p. 109). Indeed, only few individuals are likely to have the intellectual expertise, social skills, and personality traits necessary to perform that role. Thus, one can advance the conjecture that the more diluted among many individuals the function of interfacing with the external environment is, the less effective, all else equal, the performance will be. Model (14.7) further tests this conjecture by including in the regression the share of the indirect external reach accounted for by the top four firms in the city. The IRR of this variable is greater than 1 and statistically significant, thus suggesting that a greater concentration of the gatekeeping function in few firms is beneficial to explo- ration and technological recombination. Once again, advancing a definitive interpre- tation for this result is somewhat hazardous. At the same time, this result is consistent (or at least not in contrast) with several studies showing that leading large and tech- nologically sophisticated firms are those more likely to act as gatekeepers and pos- sibly generate externalities for other colocated entities (Agrawal & Cockburn, 2003). Still, we believe that this point represents an issue for further research. Conclusions We have offered an explorative perspective on the role of gatekeepers in the expan- sion and renewal of a city’s knowledge base. Quite interestingly, the results indicate that external relations and their structure play a pivotal role in renewing, expanding, and regenerating a city’s knowledge base, although only direct relations were par- ticularly effective in this regard. Importantly, albeit considered imaginative, inspired, and open to new approaches and radical innovation, gatekeepers per se, and the indirect relations they mediate, do not necessarily contribute to enriching the knowl- edge base of the cities where they are located. These results indeed challenge conventional wisdom that often invokes gate- keepers as the most important means of accessing and exploiting external knowl- edge as well as—more importantly—strategy and policy recommendations based on this assumption aimed at increasing the number and importance of gatekeepers in mediating knowledge flows across both organizational and geographical boundaries. We contend that this conventional wisdom about the role and importance of gate- keepers is based on two misconceptions. First, external relations crucial to expand- ing and regenerating a city’s knowledge base encompass several types of relations, but direct relations perform this function most effectively, by allowing faster, more 14 Are Gatekeepers Important for the Renewal of the Local Knowledge Base?…