Call for papers

Innovation Networks and Economic Performance

A special issue of Industry and Innovation guest edited by:

• Thomas Brenner

• Uwe Cantner

• Holger Graf

The overarching research theme in this special issue is the relationship between research competencies, knowledge flows, and innovation, taking a systemic or network perspective of the innovation process. We know that innovation is increasingly based on interaction between a number of actors, be it through formal agreements such as cooperation in R&D, through informal collaboration, or via other channels such as job mobility. Much of our knowledge is based on studies of bilateral agreements such as joint ventures or cooperation in R&D and amended by findings on the existence and the effects of knowledge spillovers. However, these important contributions cannot account for the structure of such knowledge networks and analyse individual positions therein. Besides academic interest, both aspects are of major relevance for policy makers and managers as they try to configure the innovation system or do their best in positioning themselves within the network of their own relations.

Even though the number of studies taking such a network perspective is increasing, we believe that there is substantial room for important further research. Especially, this applies to the relationship between actors’ position within these networks and innovative success as well as to the influence of network structure on the innovative success of the system of a whole. Specifically, we encourage submissions that make use of social network analysis in studying innovation networks on different levels (local, regional, national, technological, or sectoral) and address one of the following questions:

Theme 1: Which distinct types of relations can we observe, what are the motivations to form these relations, what are the resulting network structures, and how do they influence innovative success?

Theme 2: What determines the innovative or economic success of actors with respect to their integration and position within innovation networks? Is it better to be a central actor or be peripheral? Under which conditions is it better to be connected to many different actors or to have only few and maybe deeper contacts?

Theme 3: What role do specific actors play in influencing the performance of the network as a whole (Universities, MNCs, Research Institutes)?

Theme 4: How can we evaluate the performance of innovation networks and what characteristics of interactions and interactive structures provide an explanation for innovative success?

Note that while Industry and Innovation publishes high-quality empirical papers, they should not primarily be descriptive. Rather, they should explicitly contribute to a theoretical agenda, and preferably be based on novel and exclusive data.

Submission Process

To be considered for publication, manuscripts of a maximum of 10,000 words must be sent electronically to the Guest Editors by January 31, 2009. Please submit manuscripts as e-mail attachments to Holger Graf (holger.graf@uni-jena.de). Final reviewed and approved manuscripts will be due March 31, 2010 and will be published in Industry and Innovation August 2010 (vol. 17, issue 4). All papers will receive a double-blind review following Industry and Innovation’s normal review process. For more information, see www.industryandinnovation.org.

About the Journal

Industry and Innovation is an international refereed journal presenting high-quality original scholarship of the dynamics of industries and innovation. Interdisciplinary in nature, Industry and Innovation is informed by, and contributes in turn to, advancing the theoretical frontier within economics, organization theory, and economic geography. Theoretical issues encompass:

• What are the institutional underpinnings for different organizational forms?

• How are different industrial structures and institutions related to innovation patterns and economic performance?

The journal hence adds to a "new generation of industrial organization theory", drawing upon the institutional turn within economics in a broad sense: transaction cost economics; economics of organization; and new economic sociology.

Industry and Innovation dedicates special attention to depicting tendencies in industrial dynamics, such as the emergence of new industries; restructuring of existing industries; rise of new institutional and organizational forms; globalization; and other aspects of geographical organization. Empirical studies include:

• Performance differences among and within industries

• The increasing incidence of particular organizational forms in industries; such as clusters; networks; inter-firm projects; and online communities

• The dynamics of vertical integration and disintegration, modularity, systems integration, and "open innovation"

• The impact upon economic performance of institutions such as property right regimes; open source, industrial/science/regional policies; and social capital/social conventions/trust

• The growth of new consumer industries; for example, Cultural Industries such as film, music, computer games, and the interplay between these industries and "old" industries

• The growth of new service industries, such as Knowledge-Intensive Business Services and design

• The restructuring; globalization; or decline of "old" industries

• Innovation strategy implications and new trends in innovation policies