Knowledge creation in collaboration networks: Effects of tie configuration

Abstract

This paper studies the relationship between egocentric collaboration networks and knowledge creation at the individual level. For egocentric networks we focus on the characteristics of tie strength and tie configuration, and knowledge creation is assessed by the number of citations. Using a panel of 1,042 American scientists in five disciplines and fixed effects models, we found an inverted U-shaped relationship between network average tie strength and impact, because an increase in tie strength on the one hand facilitates the collaborative knowledge creation process and on the other hand decreases cognitive diversity. In addition, when the network average tie strength is high, a more skewed network performs better because it still has a "healthy" mixture of weak and strong ties and a balance between exploration and exploitation. Furthermore, the tie strength skewness moderates the effect of network average tie strength: both the initial positive effect and the later negative effect of an increase in tie strength are smaller in a more skewed network than in a less skewed one. 4 his/her position in the global network represents his/her social capital, and social capital affects research performance indirectly, through serving an input for current knowledge creation.However, this paper studies collaboration networks as organizations for knowledge creation and focuses on how the current network affects knowledge creation directly, via its effect on collaborative knowledge creation process and resource mobilization. Specifically, this paper focuses on the effect of tie strength and tie configuration on citation impact at the individual level.This paper makes the following theoretical contributions. First, it adds to the organization of science literature, studying egocentric collaboration networks as organizations for science production. Second, it explores tie configuration within collaboration networks and contributes to the development of a network theory beyond a simple dichotomy between strong and weak ties.The rest of the paper is organized as follows. First, we briefly review the literature on collaborative teams and networks in science and discuss the motivation for studying egocentric networks. Second, we develop hypotheses concerning the effect of tie strength and tie configuration on knowledge creation, drawing literature of science studies, social networks, organization theory, and organizational behavior. We use a panel dataset with both survey and bibliometric information for 1,042 American scientists in five disciplines (biology, chemistry, computer science, earth and atmospheric sciences, and electrical engineering). We incorporate individual fixed effects to account for unobserved time invariant individual heterogeneity and career age and prior performance to control for time variant individual differences. We found (1) an inverted U-shaped relationship between network average tie strength and citation impact, (2) a positive effect of the skewness of tie strength distribution on citation impact, when...

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