Title: Endogenous dynamics of innovation networks in the German automotive industry: analysing structural network evolution using a stochastic actor-oriented approach

Authors: Daniel Hain; Tobias Buchmann; Muhamed Kudic; Matthias Müller

Addresses: Department of Business and Management, IKE, Aalborg University, Fibigerstræde 11 Room: 91, 9220 Aalborg, DK, Denmark ' Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research, Baden-Württemberg, Meitnerstr. 1, Stuttgart, 70563, Germany ' Faculty of Business Studies and Economics, University of Bremen, Hochschulring 4, 28359 Bremen, Germany ' University of Hohenheim, Wollgrasweg 23, 70599 Stuttgart, Germany

Abstract: The generation of innovation is well known to be a social process depending on mutual interactions, aiming at accessing and exchanging knowledge in order to generate novel goods and services. Accordingly, interest in interfirm innovation networks has increased sharply over the last decade. Preceding research indicates that the structural dynamics of networks is driven both by endogenous and exogenous forces. In particular, we focus on the role of the endogenous determinants of the network evolution of interfirm networks - a category of often underestimated forces. We employ a longitudinal dataset that comprises German automotive firms' performance between 2002 and 2006 and apply a stochastic actor-oriented model (SAOM) designed to analyse both the endogenous and exogenous determinants of network change. Our results show that endogenous determinants - approximated by measures for local and global clustering - exhibit greater explanatory power than exogenous firm characteristics such as age, size, and R&D activity.

Keywords: network evolution; network endogeneity; innovation networks; automotive industry; stochastic actor-oriented approach.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCEE.2018.096392

International Journal of Computational Economics and Econometrics, 2018 Vol.8 No.3/4, pp.325 - 344

Accepted: 22 May 2018
Published online: 27 Nov 2018 *

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