The influential factors of structural hole filling within inventor networks

Abstract

Abstract: The high innovation performance of inventors could be largely attributed to the richness of structural holes within their collaborative networks. This argument has been widely confirmed in western culture featured by individualism. However, some recent research suggests that filling structural holes are much more beneficial to Chinese inventors embedded in a collective and Confucian culture. Based on the patent data of 13 Chinese high-tech enterprises, how the difference of network structures (social capital) and inventors’ characteristics (labor capital) affects the filling of structural holes between teams is studied. Results indicate that differences of team centrality and team status lead to a significant and positive effect on the filling of structural holes. Furthermore, the results also show that there is an inverted-U relationship between the scope difference of team knowledge and the filling of structural holes.

Key words: high-tech enterprise, structural hole, patent, Cox proportional hazard model, network

CLC Number:

C936

Sun Xiaoming, Cui Wentian, Dong Jinwei. The influential factors of structural hole filling within inventor networks[J]. Science Research Management, 2013, (7): 31-38,44.

References

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