TY - JOUR
T1 - Network dynamics and field evolution
T2 - The growth of interorganizational collaboration in the life sciences
AU - Powell, Walter W.
AU - Koput, Kenneth W.
AU - White, Douglas R.
AU - Owen-Smith, Jason
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2011 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2005/1
Y1 - 2005/1
N2 - A recursive analysis of network and institutional evolution is offered to account for the decentralized structure of the commercial field of the life sciences. Four alternative logics of attachment - accumulative advantage, homophily, follow-the-trend, and multiconnectivity-are tested to explain the structure and dynamics of interorganizational collaboration in biotechnology. Using multiple novel methods, the authors demonstrate how different rules for affiliation shape network evolution. Commercialization strategies pursued by early corporate entrants are supplanted by universities, research institutes, venture capital, and small firms. As organizations increase their collaborative activities and diversify their ties to others, cohesive subnetworks form, characterized by multiple, independent pathways. These structural components, in turn, condition the choices and opportunities available to members of a field, thereby reinforcing an attachment logic based on differential connections to diverse partners.
AB - A recursive analysis of network and institutional evolution is offered to account for the decentralized structure of the commercial field of the life sciences. Four alternative logics of attachment - accumulative advantage, homophily, follow-the-trend, and multiconnectivity-are tested to explain the structure and dynamics of interorganizational collaboration in biotechnology. Using multiple novel methods, the authors demonstrate how different rules for affiliation shape network evolution. Commercialization strategies pursued by early corporate entrants are supplanted by universities, research institutes, venture capital, and small firms. As organizations increase their collaborative activities and diversify their ties to others, cohesive subnetworks form, characterized by multiple, independent pathways. These structural components, in turn, condition the choices and opportunities available to members of a field, thereby reinforcing an attachment logic based on differential connections to diverse partners.
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U2 - 10.1086/421508
DO - 10.1086/421508
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:17044408227
VL - 110
SP - 1132
EP - 1205
JO - American Journal of Sociology
JF - American Journal of Sociology
SN - 0002-9602
IS - 4
ER -