合作网络的小世界性对创新绩效的影响

The Impacts of Small Worlds On Innovation

小世界网络在理论上被广泛认为是可以激发创造力,提高整体绩效的,但其相关的实证研究并不多。本研究构建了9个创新型国家和地区的研发合作网络,分析了其小世界特征,使用负二项式回归模型分析了其小世界性对整体创新产出的影响。实证结果显示较短的平均路径长度和较强的小世界性,会促使更多的创新产出。进而讨论分析了此结论对国家和地区制定产业政策、科技政策,以及企业选址的意义。

Small-world networks have been widely recognized to promote creativity and improve performance theoretically. Yet empirical studies and evidence of their benefits remain scarce. We construct patent collaborate networks for nine innovative countries to find their small-world features. We use negative binomial models to study the impact of small-world on innovation output. The empirical results show that both short path length and higher small-world quotient correlate with increased innovation. Finally we discuss the implications of our findings for national and regional industry and innovation policies as well as corporations location.