Using a social network lens, we look at collaboration networks between authors and inventors. Specifically, we study how the presence of publishing inventors in an R&D team affects the quality of the inventions to which they contribute. We analyze the characteristics of publishing inventors by identifying those who span the same or distinct groups in the co-authorship network and thereby provide access to more or less redundant knowledge. Publishing inventors also can play a pivotal role in holding the co-authorship and co-invention networks together by serving as cutpoints – i.e., occupying a gatekeeping position between the two networks. The results of the analysis suggest that publishing inventors who connect the team with which they are involved to diverse (non-overlapping) groups in the co-authorship network and serve as cutpoints are more likely to contribute to inventions (patents) of greater quality. We tested our hypotheses in the emerging field of nanotechnology.

This workshop will be presented by Daniele Rotolo, recently awarded with the Marie Curie Fellowship (EU 7th Framework Programme), is Research Fellow at the SPRU–Science and Technology Policy Research (University of Sussex). He is a management engineer (magna cum laude) by training and he received the PhD (European Doctorate) in Innovation Management and Product Development from Scuola Interpolitecnica di Dottorato (2011). Daniele was visiting researcher at University College London (UCL) in 2009-2010 and Stern Business School (New York University) in late 2010. Daniele is currently newsletter editor of the Technology and Innovation Management (TIM) division of the Academy of Management. His research interests lie in the network macro- and micro-dynamics featuring in the process of emergence of novel science and technology domains.