Co-authorship Networks in Development of Solar Cell Technology: International and Regional Knowledge Interaction

Abstract

This paper examines the development of new science-based technology in the research area of nanostructured solar cells development – a science-based technology with potential for advancing renewable energy technology. As for other research areas, the production of new scientific knowledge in this particular field is not evenly spread across all geographic regions. Rather, scientific knowledge production and science-based innovation activities take place in regional nodes that often are located in metropolitan areas with a strong academic research ability and competitive private research and development. Another character of scientific knowledge production undertaken at universities is that one node (or location) of knowledge production within a certain field is connected to other locations through joint research initiatives, collaboration on technical development and mobility of researchers. In areas where advances in science-based technology are published in scientific journals, this interaction and exchange of knowledge can be analyzed through studies of the researchers’ joint publications. These two aspects (concentration of scientific knowledge production and knowledge networks between locations) motivate a regional dimension in studies of science-based technology and innovation. The focus on the regional context also incorporates the notion of cross-regional knowledge networks and mechanisms of knowledge transfer. The regional dimension is also in the core of studies in the area of geography of innovation, following the early work on geographically mediated knowledge spillovers (Jaffe 1989; Acs et al. 1991). Studies of knowledge networks have also examined the effects of knowledge spillovers in science-based technology fields (Owen-Smith and Powell 2004). This paper focuses on examining the mechanisms by which science-based technical knowledge is transferred and applies a regional lens to measures of scientific output, impact and structure. This leads to the following three components of the introduction. First, discussing some central aspects in previous work in studies of knowledge spillovers, then drawing on experiences from studies of science-based knowledge networks, and finally, outlining the scope of the study.