Social Networks in Dynamics of National Innovation Systems

1
Social Networks in Dynamics of National
Innovation Systems

• Natalia Agapitova, PhD
• The World Bank

2
The centrality of interactions in the studies of
NIS

• NIS is an interactive set of national
  institutions and economic actors whose activities
  contribute to the technological and economic
  development of the country
• INTERACTIONS
• Interactions are not limited to market
  interactions

3
NIS Dynamics

• Interactive learning as a main source of
  institutional and technological change
• Endogenous growth theory (Romer, 1990)
• The Role of Social Linkages
• Social relations are omnipresent and cannot be
  overlooked
• Beneath most formal ties, lies a sea of informal
  relations (Powell et al., 1996, p. 120)

4
Social Networks Analysis

•  Interactions Arms-length VS socially embedded
• Socially embedded interactions strong and weak
  ties
• Social resources trust, circulation of
  knowledge, new opportunities
• Heterogeneous structures

5
Social Networks Dynamics

• Embeddedness process establishment of a social
  tie
• Decoupling process loosening of a social tie
• Social gel society as a scope of possibilities
  rather than a structured set of actors

6
Social Processes in NIS Dynamics
Embeddedness
Market Regime Forms of interactions are
established by formal institutions (arms-length
ties)
Network Regime Forms of interactions are
established by informal institutions (embedded
ties)
Firms Organizations Individuals
Decoupling
7
Impact of Social Networks on NIS Dynamics

• Social barriers to innovative activities
  over-embeddedness
• Institution-building process
• Heterogeneity of NIS internal structures

8
Features of an efficient NIS

• Technologically advanced economic actors (firms,
  individuals, etc.) that possess economic and
  social capabilities.
• Developed formal institutions that provide a full
  range of services and legal basis that support
  economic and innovative activities.
• Open, flexible and dynamic social networks that
  generate trust, cooperation, facilitate knowledge
  flows and support entrepreneurial activities by
  providing support and opportunities for
  innovative activities of individual actors.

9
Features of an inefficient NIS

• Immature industry and private sector with
  insufficient economic and technological
  capacities of individual actors (including poor
  human capital development).
• Underdeveloped, corrupt or unstable institutional
  system that fails to provide the rules of
  interaction in the market regime.
• Lack of social cohesion (unwillingness of the
  actors to engage in social relations),
  over-embeddedness, domination of particular
  social network or type of networks.

10
Four Types of Networks of Innovation
11
From NIS as analytical framework towards NIS
as a development tool

• Sources of system failures
• Sources of the dynamics
• Institution-building process
• Emergence and development of an efficient NIS

12
Conclusions

• Social sources of NIS dynamics and systemic
  failures
• From undifferentiated framework to the studies of
  heterogeneous internal structures
• Need for a more systematic research of the
  interaction between social structures,
  institutions and private firms