Elisa Operti

Public Knowledge, Private Gain The Effect of Spillover Networks on Firms’ Innovative Performance

Complementing received research on the role of collaboration networks in fostering interorganizational learning and innovation, the authors focus on the importance of learning from other firms’ public knowledge. To this end they introduce the concept of spillover network—the network of “source” firms whose public knowledge a “recipient” firm is able to readily absorb and use as innovation input. Using patent-based data on a panel of semiconductor firms between 1976 and 2002, the authors demonstrate that firms’ innovative performance tends to be higher when their spillover network is either munificent or rich in structural holes. However, being exposed to a spillover network that is both munificent and rich in structural holes is generally counterproductive. Consistent with the insight that the value of external knowledge inputs depends on the firm-level resources with which it can be bundled, furthermore, the authors argue that the extent to which firms benefit from their spillover network hinges on specific intraorganizational factors—their scientific intensity and degree of downstream integration.

The Categorical Imperative and Structural Reproduction: Dynamics of Technological Entry in the Semiconductor Industry

Extant organizational literature argues that straddling institutionalized categories begets an illegitimacy discount, leading organizations to reproduce established categorical boundaries. If gaining legitimacy requires compliance with this “categorical imperative,” why do we frequently observe categorical straddling even in uncontested and fully institutionalized categorical structures? To address this question, we propose that de novo (i.e., newly founded) and de alio (i.e., diversifying) organizations respond differently to the categorical imperative. Specifically, de novo organizations are more likely to enter and fit in high-contrast categories than in low-contrast ones, whereas the opposite is true for de alio entrants. To test these hypotheses, we follow technological entry dynamics within the semiconductor industry between 1976 and 2002. Using patent information, we examine how category contrast affects which technological categories de novo and de alio organizations enter, and the performance ass...

Value Chain Structure and Correlation Between Design Structure Matrices

An empirical study of the relationship between product architecture and industry structure is discussed. Product architecture is modeled by using Design Structure Matrices (DSMs) representing three different types of intercomponent relationships: technological homogeneity, functional interaction and assembly process contiguity. The DSM models may be used to explain firms’ specialization choices within an industry. Moreover, the same models can provide a rough-cut forecast of the impact that modular and architectural innovation may have on industry structure. The method is then applied to the automotive industry, using empirical data on automotive suppliers located in the province of Turin, in Northwestern Italy.

A War in Ninety Seconds: Moderation and Escalation of Neighborhood Rivalry in the “Palio di Siena”

Sociologists observe that social conflict is relational and endogenous, posing the problem of avoiding its escalation. Proposed mechanisms include the mobilization of strong ties and of weak, cross...