Abstract
The impact of social network position on innovation has been widely confirmed in past studies. However, research on the time-lag structure of the impact is still insufficient. Within the time window 2010 to 2017, this study constructs a two-mode social network between Chinese listed companies and other participants. To analyze the lag structure of the effect of social network position on innovation, this study uses a panel negative binomial regression model transformed by the Almon polynomial. The results show that a firm does need an advantageous past social network position for innovation. Previous local and global centrality in a social network has a different influence on innovation. For the local centrality indices, degree centrality has a positive impact in the short-term, but has a negative impact in the long-term; the impact of betweenness centrality is not significant in the short-term and is negative in the long run. For the global centrality indices, closeness centrality has a positive influence that decreases with the increase of the time-lag. At the same time, using the method of necessary condition analysis (NCA), this study calculates the bottleneck for a given innovation level. Finally, based on these research conclusions, the theoretical implications and management practice implications are summarized.
Highlights
In the era of knowledge economy, innovation has become a critical factor for the sustainable development of firms
Our research provides a new way of understanding the role of social network position on innovation
By studying the impact of different perspectives of previous social network positions on firms’ innovation, including degree centrality, betweenness centrality, and closeness centrality, this study finds that the impact of the “history” of a firm’s social networks position on current innovations is complex
Summary
In the era of knowledge economy, innovation has become a critical factor for the sustainable development of firms. Innovation has been a hot research topic of organizational management in recent decades. Many researchers have studied the relevant influencing factors of firms’ innovation. With changes in economic activity in the Internet economy and the supply chain economy, the degree of information or resources exchanged among various entities is increasing. Cooperation and sustainable innovation are promoting and upgrading. In such a situation, firms need to better integrate into the social network, which is formed by the market. Past research has shown that the position in which a firm is embedded has a significant impact on innovation [1,2]
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