Modeling the evolution of collaboration network and knowledge network and their effects on knowledge flow through social network analysis
ZHANG Ya-Rui, MA Ding
Journal of Digital Information Management, Vol. 14, No. 4, 2016.
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Abstract:
As important channels of information transmission and knowledge flow, collaboration network and knowledge network can aid network actors in information update and knowledge creation. However, only a few comparative analyses have been conducted on knowledge flow in these two networks. To identify the knowledge flow in collaboration network and knowledge network, this study deployed a database of  nanometer photoelectron patents taken out by China at the State Intellectual Property Office over the period 2000 to 2015, and analyzed the evolution of these two networks in terms of network typology, node centrality and core-periphery structure. Results indicate that collaboration network and knowledge network are decoupling and developing in negative directions. Specifically, the collaboration networks of nanometer photoelectron patents decrease in scale, which hinders information transmission, whereas the knowledge networks increase in scale, which is beneficial to knowledge flow. In addition, the degree centrality and betweenness centrality of most nodes in collaboration network and knowledge network are positively related. Universities and ultra-micro techniques maintain core positions in the evolution of collaboration network and knowledge network and exert significant effects on knowledge flow. This study offers a viable method of knowledge flow identification based on the joint investigation of knowledge network and collaboration network and sheds light on efficiency enhancement of knowledge management within these two networks.