Evolution of R&D Capabilities: The Role of Knowledge Networks Within a Firm
研究企业内部发明者网络位置如何影响知识在研发中的使用，导致路径依赖和专业化，并以杜邦公司数据验证理论。
In this paper, we suggest that the characteristics of individual positions in an intraorganizational network of inventors or intrafirm knowledge network predict the likelihood with which knowledge created by an inventor is used in the firm’s research and development (R&D) activities. Such choices lead to path dependence and subsequent specialization. We provide empirical evidence that a firm’s R&D is concentrated in those areas where it chooses to recombine knowledge, offering support for the path-dependent evolution of capabilities. We test this theory by analyzing the R&D networks in DuPont, a highly regarded Fortune 500 chemical company. Cox Proportional Regression models of intrafirm citations on network characteristics offer strong empirical support for our theory.