Complexity, networks and knowledge flow

Description

"Because knowledge plays an important role in the creation of wealth, economic actors may attempt to skew the flow of knowledge in their favor. Managers of a firm may seek to spread knowledge widely within their organization but prevent its diffusion to rivals. Regional planners may strive for rapid diffusion of knowledge within a local economy but not beyond it. We ask, \"when will knowledge developed in one area of dense social connections such as a firm, a geographic locale, or a technological community tend to diffuse to the edge of that area but not further?\" Marrying an understanding of social networks with a view of knowledge transfer as a search process, we argue that the degree of knowledge inequality across social boundaries depends crucially on the nature of the knowledge at hand."

Description

Because knowledge plays an important role in the creation of wealth, economic actors may attempt to skew the flow of knowledge in their favor. We ask, when will an actor socially close to the source of some knowledge have the greatest advantage over distant actors in receiving and building on the knowledge? Marrying a social network perspective with a view of knowledge transfrer as a search process we argue that the value of social proximity to the knowledge source depends crucially on the nature of the knowledge at hand. Simple knowledge diffuses equally to close and distant actors because distant recipients with poor connections to the source of the knowledge can compensate for their limited access by means of unaided local search. Complex knowledge resists diffusion even within the social circles in which it originated.

Subjects

Series Statement

• Working paper / Division of Research, Harvard Business School -- 04-027

Other Editions

• Complexity, networks and knowledge flowDivision of Research, Harvard Business School2003-01-01
• Complexity, networks and knowledge flowDivision of Research, Harvard Business School2005