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The extant literature therefore suggests that openness and external ties are crucial
for the renewal and expansion of the local knowledge base and, more generally, for
innovation and creativity. However, it also suggests that, despite the importance
often assigned to gatekeepers regarding the access and transfer of external knowl-
edge (Graf, 2011; Munari, Sobrero, & Malipiero, 2012), their role is not unequivo-
cally and unambiguously positive. Some research questions are thus still open. For
example, is the open-mindedness, creativity, and innovativeness of gatekeepers suf-
ficient to make the relations they mediate a more effective channel for knowledge
transmission than direct external links? Are the disadvantages of the slower and
noisier access to knowledge associated with gatekeepers compensated by the advan-
tages of translation and transcoding of external information necessary for the suc-
cessful transfer and application of externally sourced knowledge at the local level?
In short, are all external relations alike with respect to expanding and renewing the
existing local knowledge base?
We aim to offer an exploratory investigation of these issues and a preliminary
assessment of the importance of gatekeepers for the renewal and expansion of the
local knowledge base. We distinguish conceptually between direct external ties and
external linkages mediated by gatekeepers and test their relative effectiveness as
knowledge transfer channels. For this purpose, we propose a methodological
approach to identifying and measuring the different types of external relations. In so
doing, we also supply a methodological contribution to the modeling of the struc-
ture of external relations and the channels through which external knowledge flows
into a city.
The empirical analysis was conducted on a large dataset of patents and their inven-
tors in 196 U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) in the period 1990–2004.
Urban settings particularly suit the study of the relationship between knowledge net-
work properties and innovation, because invention in the United States has always
been a predominantly metropolitan phenomenon (Carlino, Chatterjee, & Hunt, 2007).
In the next section, we discuss the construction of appropriate indicators to cap-
ture the intensity of a city’s external linkages, the identification of gatekeepers, and
of their importance in mediating external knowledge flows. We then describe our
data sources and the econometric framework. The results of the empirical analysis
are presented in section results, followed by our conclusions.
Measuring the Contribution of Gatekeepers to External
Linkages
In this chapter, we use patents as relational data and apply the tools of social net-
work analysis in analyzing the impact of social networks on innovation, as recent
literature suggests (Breschi & Lissoni, 2009; Ter Wal & Boschma, 2009). In par-
ticular, inventors are regarded as nodes of a network, with co-invention (namely, the
designation of multiple inventors on the same patent) representing the link between
nodes.
14 Are Gatekeepers Important for the Renewal of the Local Knowledge Base?…
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Buch Knowledge and Networks"
Knowledge and Networks
- Titel
- Knowledge and Networks
- Autoren
- Johannes Glückler
- Emmanuel Lazega
- Ingmar Hammer
- Verlag
- Springer Open
- Ort
- Cham
- Datum
- 2017
- Sprache
- deutsch
- Lizenz
- CC BY 4.0
- ISBN
- 978-3-319-45023-0
- Abmessungen
- 15.5 x 24.1 cm
- Seiten
- 390
- Schlagwörter
- Human Geography, Innovation/Technology Management, Economic Geography, Knowledge, Discourse
- Kategorie
- Technik