Knowledge Networks, Collaboration Networks, and Local Search Behaviors

Abstract

Inventors embed themselves in knowledge networks consisting of links between knowledge elements and collaboration networks with other inventors. These two networks are decoupled: Their structural features are distinct, and they jointly influence inventors’ local searches for knowledge. Using a longitudinal patent dataset comprising 12,174 observations, this study investigates the effects of two structural features of inventors in these networks—degree centrality and structural holes—on their local search behaviors. Our findings reveal that the degree centrality of inventors’ knowledge elements in the intra-organizational knowledge network contributes to the depth and breadth of their local search behaviors, while structural holes hinder such behaviors. Furthermore, the effect of degree centrality in the intra-organizational knowledge network for local searches increases when inventors hold central positions and span more structural holes in the intra-organizational collaboration network. The negative effect of structural holes in the knowledge network for local searches weakens when inventors hold central positions in the collaboration network. These findings contribute to the literature on knowledge searches by decoupling the knowledge and collaboration networks and analyzing their effects on the depth and breadth of local searches and offer practical implications to organizational managers and researchers.