Network evolution and the spatiotemporal dynamics of knowledge sourcing

Abstract

Knowledge accessing from external organizations is important to firms, especially entrepreneurial ones that often cannot generate internally all the knowledge necessary for innovation. There is, however, a lack of evidence concerning the association between the evolution of firms and the evolution of their networks. The aim of this paper is to begin to fill this gap by undertaking an exploratory analysis of the relationship between the vintage of firms and their knowledge sourcing networks. Drawing on an analysis of firms in the UK, the paper finds some evidence of a U-shaped relationship existing between firm age and the frequency of accessing knowledge from certain sources. Emerging entrepreneurial firms are found to be highly active with regard to accessing knowledge from a range of sources and geographic locations, with the rate of networking dropping somewhat during the following period of peak firm growth. For instance, it is found that firms tend to access knowledge from sources such as universities and research institutes in their own region less frequently when they experience peak turnover growth. Overall, the results suggest a complex relationship between the lifecycle of the firm and its networking patterns. It is concluded that network-related theory and policy needs to take greater account of the likelihood that network formation and utilization by firms will vary dependent upon their lifecycle position.