Core-periphery Analysis Research Articles

The invisible college of cluster research: a bibliometric core–periphery analysis of the literature

ABSTRACT This paper explores the evolutionary trajectories of cluster research, building upon the sociology of science concept of the invisible college, and it undertakes a core–periphery analysis of the literature. We build a database that includes 8,381 articles, collected from Web of Science, that cite the foundational works of cluster research, and we perform a longitudinal analysis of its evolution from 1985 onward, identifying the core and periphery, in terms of keywords and concepts, for each period (six-year window). We find evidence that cluster research has a core–periphery structure. Literature develops thanks to new inputs from the periphery, which increases over time as the core progressively shrinks. The periphery becomes fragmented and is characterised by subgroups of small communities. Drawing on the metaphor of the invisible college, we argue that this evolutionary trajectory is not exclusive of the cluster but might possibly characterise other scientific concepts.

Structural changes in the interbank market across the financial crisis from multiple core–periphery analysis

Interbank markets are often characterised in terms of a core-periphery network structure, with a highly interconnected core of banks holding the market together, and a periphery of banks connected mostly to the core but not internally. This paradigm has recently been challenged for short time scales, where interbank markets seem better characterised by a bipartite structure with more core-periphery connections than inside the core. Using a novel core-periphery detection method on the eMID interbank market, we enrich this picture by showing that the network is actually characterised by multiple core-periphery pairs. Moreover, a transition from core-periphery to bipartite structures occurs by shortening the temporal scale of data aggregation. We further show how the global financial crisis transformed the market, in terms of composition, multiplicity and internal organisation of core-periphery pairs. By unveiling such a fine-grained organisation and transformation of the interbank market, our method can find important applications in the understanding of how distress can propagate over financial networks.

Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf? Rethinking the Core and Periphery in the Eurozone Crisis

ABSTRACTRecent literature on the eurozone crisis has begun to rethink those explanations of its origins that rely on narratives stressing the ‘immaturity’ of political and economic governance in the countries of the European periphery. These narratives are typically challenged by frameworks which understand the eurozone as a region characterised by a ‘beggar-thy-neighbour’ hierarchy between the economic growth of Germany, which leads to precarious, ‘financialised’ growth in the periphery. Yet, this article shows that core–periphery scholarship is unable to adequately challenge the immaturity thesis due to its preoccupation with German ‘victimisation’ of the European periphery. By exploring country-specific direction of trade and capital lending statistics, I shows that there is little basis for the argument that Germany is to blame for the origins of the eurozone crisis in the individual countries of the European Periphery. This article shows that by bringing core–periphery analysis into dialogue with Comparative Political Economy, a critical approach to the Eurozone crisis can be developed which leaves behind the myth of the German ‘big bad wolf’. Instead, I show that imbalances between the core and periphery are a product of a flawed construction of the Single Market and Economic and Monetary Union.

Analysis on the Co-authoring in the Field of Management in China: Based on Social Network Analysis

Using bibliographic data extracted from CNKI database, social network analysis is used to generate and analyze the network of co-authors of China in the field of management. This article suggests that: the density of the network is low, which means the collaboration between authors in China is not tight; the relations between the degree centrality and research output are weak. The author who published more papers may not have more co-authors. Through the lens of betweenness centrality, several authors in key positions of network are always dominating the academic information exchange and the small groups of authors have changed from 2006 to 2015. The result of core-periphery analysis reflects that only a very small proportion of scholars are in the core of the network while most are relatively independent. The similarity of working experience, academic authority and geographical closeness are helpful to form and enhance the collaboration network.

Evolution of modularity literature: a 25-year bibliometric analysis

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to review and analyze the modularity literature to identify the established and emerging perspectives.Design/methodology/approachA systematic literature search and review was conducted through the use of bibliometrics and network analysis. The analysis identified structure within the literature, which revealed how the research area evolved between 1990 and 2015. Based on this search, the paper establishes the basis for analyzing the structure of modularity literature.FindingsFactors were identified within the literature, demonstrating how it has evolved from a primary focus on the modularity of products to a broader view of the applicability of modularity. Within the last decade, numerous research areas have emerged within the broader area of modularity. Through core-periphery analysis, eight emerging sub-research areas are identified, of which one is the study of modularity in the context of services.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough bibliographic methods are limited as they are based on common citations within the field, they enable systematic analysis and the identification of structure within an emergent field of research. Such analysis has implications by for a growing and inter-disciplinary field like modularity by providing overview and suggesting future directions.Originality/valueThis paper contributes by conducting a systematic review based on the citation structure within modularity and identifies the established and emerging areas of research on modularity.

Vocational Rehabilitation Service Patterns: An Application of Social Network Analysis to Examine Employment Outcomes of Transition-Age Individuals With Autism

Young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) face poor employment outcomes following transition from school to adult life. Social network analysis is a useful approach for examining service patterns associated with employment success for this population. An advantage of this approach is its focus on the interdependence of variables rather than individual predictors. This study applies network methodology to examine the relations between vocational rehabilitation services and young adults with ASD to predict employment status. Using the Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA-911) data set, participants included 2,219 individuals with ASD between the ages of 16 and 24 served by the public vocational rehabilitation system and closed as either competitively employed or not employed. A two-mode network was constructed such that a relation was defined for each service an individual received. Results from a core-periphery analysis indicated that of the 22 services available, core services included assessment, counseling/guidance, job placement, on-the-job support, job search support, and transportation services. Follow-up analyses suggested that the greater number of these six core services an individual received, the better the employment outcome. Findings highlight that these services should be viewed as interconnected and suggest a set of six core services that may be particularly beneficial for this population.

The shifting dynamics of social roles and project ownership over the lifecycle of a community-based participatory research project.

. Community based participatory research (CBPR) is often initiated by academic researchers, yet relies on meaningful community engagement and ownership to have lasting impact. Little is understood about how ownership shifts from academic to community partners. . We examined a CBPR project over its life course and asked: what does the evolution of ownership look like from project initiation by an academic (non-community) champion (T1); to maturation-when the intervention is ready to be deployed (T2); to independence-the time when the original champion steps aside (T3); and finally, to its maintenance-when the community has had an opportunity to function independently of the original academic champion (T4)? . Using sociometric (whole network) social network analysis, knowledge leadership was measured using 'in-degree centrality'. Stakeholder network structure was measured using 'centralisation' and 'core-periphery analysis'. Friedman rank sum test was used to measure change in actor roles over time from T1 to T4. . Project stakeholder roles were observed to shift significantly (P < 0.005) from initiation (T1) to project maintenance (T4). Community stakeholders emerged into positions of knowledge leadership, while the roles of academic partners diminished in importance. The overall stakeholder network demonstrated a structural shift towards a core of densely interacting community stakeholders. . This was the first study to use Social network analysis to document a shift in ownership from academic to community partners, indicating community self-determination over the research process. Further analysis of qualitative data will determine which participatory actions or strategies were responsible for this observed change.

GenPerm: A Unified Method for Detecting Non-Overlapping and Overlapping Communities

Detection of non-overlapping and overlapping communities are essentially the same problem. However, current algorithms focus either on finding overlapping or non-overlapping communities. We present a generalized framework that can identify both non-overlapping and overlapping communities, without any prior input about the network or its community distribution. To do so, we introduce a vertex-based metric, GenPerm, that quantifies by how much a vertex belongs to each of its constituent communities. Our community detection algorithm is based on maximizing the GenPerm over all the vertices in the network. We demonstrate, through experiments over synthetic and real-world networks, that GenPerm is more effective than other metrics in evaluating community structure. Further, we show that due to its vertex-centric property, GenPerm can be used to unfold several inferences beyond community detection, such as core-periphery analysis and message spreading. Our algorithm for maximizing GenPerm outperforms six state-of-the-art algorithms in accurately predicting the ground-truth labels. Finally, we discuss the problem of resolution limit in overlapping communities and demonstrate that maximizing GenPerm can mitigate this problem.

Analysis of scientific collaboration in Chinese psychiatry research.

BackgroundIn recent decades, China has changed profoundly, becoming the country with the world’s second-largest economy. The proportion of the Chinese population suffering from mental disorder has grown in parallel with the rapid economic development, as social stresses have increased. The aim of this study is to shed light on the status of collaborations in the Chinese psychiatry field, of which there is currently limited research.MethodsWe sampled 16,224 publications (2003-2012) from 10 core psychiatry journals from Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and WanFang Database. We used various social network analysis (SNA) methods such as centrality analysis, and Core-Periphery analysis to study collaboration. We also used hierarchical clustering analysis in this study.ResultsFrom 2003-2012, there were increasing collaborations at the level of authors, institutions and regions in the Chinese psychiatry field. Geographically, these collaborations were distributed unevenly. The 100 most prolific authors and institutions and 32 regions were used to construct the collaboration map, from which we detected the core author, institution and region. Collaborative behavior was affected by economic development.ConclusionWe should encourage collaborative behavior in the Chinese psychiatry field, as this facilitates knowledge distribution, resource sharing and information acquisition. Collaboration has also helped the field narrow its current research focus, providing further evidence to inform policymakers to fund research in order to tackle the increase in mental disorder facing modern China.

Analysis of core–periphery organization in protein contact networks reveals groups of structurally and functionally critical residues

The representation of proteins as networks of interacting amino acids, referred to as protein contact networks (PCN), and their subsequent analyses using graph theoretic tools, can provide novel insights into the key functional roles of specific groups of residues. We have characterized the networks corresponding to the native states of 66 proteins (belonging to different families) in terms of their core-periphery organization. The resulting hierarchical classification of the amino acid constituents of a protein arranges the residues into successive layers - having higher core order - with increasing connection density, ranging from a sparsely linked periphery to a densely intra-connected core (distinct from the earlier concept of protein core defined in terms of the three-dimensional geometry of the native state, which has least solvent accessibility). Our results show that residues in the inner cores are more conserved than those at the periphery. Underlining the functional importance of the network core, we see that the receptor sites for known ligand molecules of most proteins occur in the innermost core. Furthermore, the association of residues with structural pockets and cavities in binding or active sites increases with the core order. From mutation sensitivity analysis, we show that the probability of deleterious or intolerant mutations also increases with the core order. We also show that stabilization centre residues are in the innermost cores, suggesting that the network core is critically important in maintaining the structural stability of the protein. A publicly available Web resource for performing core-periphery analysis of any protein whose native state is known has been made available by us at http://www.imsc.res.in/ ~sitabhra/proteinKcore/index.html.

The common sense of dependence on smartphone: A comparison between digital natives and digital immigrants

Recently, mass media and researchers have begun to be concerned about excessive dependence on smartphones. Their interest, however, has largely focused on description of the phenomenon (i.e. severity of the addiction, current status of the addiction) or the development of measurement scales to assess the addiction. In this study, we ask a fundamental question about smartphone addiction: what users’ common sense of dependence on smartphones is. More specifically, employing a core–periphery analysis of social representations, this article explores how the younger generation has a different understanding of this addiction from the older generation. Findings of the study can provide a rich knowledge about users’ perceptions of and attitude toward smartphone addiction.

The meaning of virtual entrepreneurship in social virtual worlds

In order to expand our understanding of user innovation and entrepreneurship in emerging Web environments, this study examines users’ entrepreneurial cognition in virtual space. We explore this topic in the social virtual world of Second Life, where user-to-user sales of virtual goods have spurred new entrepreneurial ventures and a burgeoning in-world economy. Although users’ consumption of virtual goods has been examined in several studies, user entrepreneurship, or the creation/sales of virtual goods, has received scant attention. The study elicits the social representations of ‘virtual entrepreneurship’ of entrepreneurs in those worlds. To understand the meanings of virtual entrepreneurship we conducted interviews with 24 virtual entrepreneurs. Using core-periphery analysis, we identified a structure of the representation of virtual entrepreneurship consisting of 3 core conceptual components (Self-supporting, Widespread virtual business, and Social nature of business) and 12 peripheral concepts. This exploratory research contributes initial insights into the cognitive underpinnings of entrepreneurship in the emerging virtual economy.

Understanding consumption in social virtual worlds: A sensemaking perspective on the consumption of virtual goods

Virtual consumption involves consuming virtual goods in cyberspace. Virtual consumption activities are evolving into an essential activity in social virtual worlds. Despite the growing importance of this activity, little research examines this phenomenon. The current study investigates the fundamental question of how users understand the consumption of virtual goods. Using the theory of social representations and core-periphery analysis, this study elicits and analyzes the social representation of virtual consumption. Study participants are 154 Second Life users. Results identify 32 concepts and relationships representing the collective perceptions of virtual consumption in this social virtual world. Social representation map interpretations point to several key themes that provide a foundation for future investigations of virtual economy consumption behavior.

Idea Generation and Survival in an Organizational Innovation Jam

This paper aims to contribute to both innovation management theory and ideation practice in firms, by empirically analyzing what factors influence the “life” of an idea within organizations. As the empirical base for our study, we utilize data from a 48-hour IT- based creative session called Ideation Jam within a Swedish multination company. During this session ideas were created, developed, and selected by a large number of employees, something which can be regarded as a live experiment emulating what normally occurs in organizations, though in a much more compressed timeframe. The empirical observations allow us to see how ideas generated by the employees within the organization arise, evolve, and die or are selected over time. In addition, we explore how this process of selection and survival of an idea is influenced by the social networks that are generated around it. The findings indicate that the amount of comments (activity) generated around an idea, and its insertion in the early stages into the Jam (time lag), increase the likelihood that it will eventually be considered a novel and valuable idea, and thus is selected for further development and possible realization. In addition, by employing a core-periphery analysis, we find that the social structure in which the idea is embedded has important implications for its survival. Theoretical and managerial implications that can be drawn from our findings, as well as limitations of our study and directions for future research are discussed.

Sex Networking of Young Men Who Have Sex With Men in Densely Connected Saunas in Hong Kong

Some men who have sex with men (MSM) meet and have sex with male partners at gay saunas, the connections between which are little explored for designing HIV prevention measures. This study aims to describe the network configuration of gay saunas and explore its relationship with risk behavior of MSM in the respective sauna communities, in the city of Hong Kong. Using venue-based sampling, 205 MSM were recruited in 8 saunas in July 2011 for a cross-sectional anonymous questionnaire survey. A network of saunas was constructed based on the proportion of clients shared between them. Core saunas with higher intensity of linkages were delineated from core-periphery analysis. Men who have sex with men in core saunas were compared with those in peripheral ones in terms of their demographics and risk behavioral profiles. Eight core saunas were differentiated from a highly connected sauna network, consisting of 13 saunas with a diameter of 2. Men who have sex with men visiting core saunas were more likely to be younger and users of the Internet for sex networking (odds ratio, 5.43; 95% confidence interval, 1.84-16.01). On average, they visited 1.7 saunas and had 2.6 sauna partners over a 1-month period, which were both significantly higher than those for MSM in peripheral saunas. However, there was no association between having unprotected anal sex and visiting core saunas. Sauna affiliation patterns were age dependent and geographically related. Saunas were not homogeneously connected with each other. Prioritization may be considered so that public health interventions can be targeted at saunas in denser networks. An assortative mixing in age among MSM in sauna community informs planning for client-specific venue-based prevention programs.

It's all in whom you know (as well as what you know). Using network analysis and health professionals own knowledge for recruitment

Often the decision of whom to interview within a study is crucial to its ultimate success or failure, but when the study is to assess a very specific subset of health professionals, this decision may be even more vital. One avenue that has been proposed within the AiMS Study, is to make use of the knowledge that the group of interest inherently possesses, the names of others working with the specific patient group. Using the tools of network analysis, the frequency and linkage of the names given will be analysed to assess who are the key or central persons whom the study should recruit for interview. Techniques will include degree, betweenness and eigenvector centrality, as while as core-periphery structure analysis of the network graph. The benefits of this approach are that rather than interviewing a large or random sample of health professionals, the core individuals are approached, reducing the number of interviews to be conducted, and in theory, conducting interviews with those having greater knowledge of the specific patient group. The protocol, ethical considerations and success of such a stratum for recruitment will be discussed.

“Us and Them”: a social network analysis of physicians’ professional networks and their attitudes towards EBM

BackgroundExtant research suggests that there is a strong social component to Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) adoption since professional networks amongst physicians are strongly associated with their attitudes towards EBM. Despite this evidence, it is still unknown whether individual attitudes to use scientific evidence in clinical decision-making influence the position that physicians hold in their professional network. This paper explores how physicians’ attitudes towards EBM is related to the network position they occupy within healthcare organizations.MethodsData pertain to a sample of Italian physicians, whose professional network relationships, demographics and work-profile characteristics were collected. A social network analysis was performed to capture the structural importance of physicians in the collaboration network by the means of a core-periphery analysis and the computation of network centrality indicators. Then, regression analysis was used to test the association between the network position of individual clinicians and their attitudes towards EBM.ResultsFindings documented that the overall network structure is made up of a dense cohesive core of physicians and of less connected clinicians who occupy the periphery. A negative association between the physicians’ attitudes towards EBM and the coreness they exhibited in the professional network was also found. Network centrality indicators confirmed these results documenting a negative association between physicians’ propensity to use EBM and their structural importance in the professional network.ConclusionsAttitudes that physicians show towards EBM are related to the part (core or periphery) of the professional networks to which they belong as well as to their structural importance. By identifying virtuous attitudes and behaviors of professionals within their organizations, policymakers and executives may avoid marginalization and stimulate integration and continuity of care, both within and across the boundaries of healthcare providers.

Core–Periphery Relations in the European Union and the Role of Central Places in Europe with a Focus on Regional Policy in Britain and Germany

Core–periphery analysis is vital to an understanding of the European Union (EU) and regional development. The European Economic Community (EEC), which would eventually become the EU, was formed in 1957 in order to promote progressive economic integration. Recognizing that there were depressed regions within both peripheral and core nation-states, the EC adopted a programme with the goal of bringing those regions into convergence. Its programme is essentially a liberal centre–periphery model similar to the one proposed by Friedman. Many of the nation-states within the EC also have their own regional policies and programmes regarding intervention within their own spatial boundaries. To present an approach for comparison this article will focus on two examples of regional policy: Britain's attitude toward regional development in the North and the German programme for integrating East Germany.

Beyond Categories: A Structural Analysis of the Social Representations of Information Users' Collective Perceptions on 'Relevance'

Relevance has a long history of scholarly investigation and discussion in information science. One of its notable concepts is that of ‘user-based’ relevance. The purpose of this study is to examine how users construct their per spective on the concept of relevance; to analyze what the constituent elements (facets) of relevance are, in terms of core-periphery status; and to compare the difference of constructions of two groups of users (information users vs. information professionals) as applied with a social representations theory perspective. Data were collected from 244 information users and 123 information professionals through use of a free word association method. Three methods were employed to analyze data: (1) content analysis was used to elicit 26 categories (facets) of the concept of relevance; (2) structural analysis of social representations was used to determine the core-periphery status of those facets in terms of coreness, sum of similarity, and weighted frequency; and, (3) maximum tree analysis was used to present and compare the differences between the two groups. Elicited cate gories in this study overlap with the ones from previous relevance studies, while the findings of a core-periphery analysis show that Topicality, User-needs, Reliability/Credibility, and Importance are configured as core concepts for the information user group, while Topicality, User-needs, Reliability/Credibility, and Currency are core con cepts for the information professional group. Differences between the social representations of relevance revealed that Topicality was similar to User-needs and to Importance. Author is closely related to Title while Reliability/ Credibility is linked with Currency. Easiness/Clarity is similar to Accuracy. Overall, information users and

A Study on Contagion Effect of Country Shock Through Core-periphery and Influence Analysis of Intra-regional Trade Networks among European Countries

A Study on Contagion Effect of Country Shock Through Core-periphery and Influence Analysis of Intra-regional Trade Networks among European Countries