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on Network Economics |
| By: | Edling, Christofer (Stockholm University Linnaeus Center for Integration Studies - SULCIS); Rydgren, Jens (Stockholm University Linnaeus Center for Integration Studies - SULCIS) |
| Abstract: | The social surroundings in which the individual grows up and spends her everyday life have an effect on her life chances. Much of the research into this phenomenon focuses on so called neighborhood effects and has put particular emphasis on the negative effects of growing up in a poor neighborhood. Originating from the sociological study of inner city problems in the United States, the research question has recently been embraced by Scandinavian social scientists, who assess the phenomenon with reference to social network effects and the lock-in effects of ethnic enclaves. We critique the theoretical assumptions that we find in recent Scandinavian research, and argue that a straightforward interpretation of neighborhood effects in terms of network effects is problematic. Our argument is based on an empirical analysis of friendship circles of ninth-graders in Stockholm (n=240). We conclude that the friendship networks of ninth-graders extend well beyond the neighborhood, thus casting serious doubt on the network effects assumption of previous research. We also conclude that there is nothing in the reality of these ninth-graders that confirms the established concept of ethnic enclave. |
| Keywords: | social interaction; friendship; adolescence; ethnicity; neighborhood |
| JEL: | R23 |
| Date: | 2010–11–29 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:sulcis:2010_013&r=net |
| By: | Martin, Roman (CIRCLE, Lund University); Moodysson, Jerker (CIRCLE, Lund University) |
| Abstract: | This paper deals with geographical and organisational patterns of knowledge flows in the media industry of southern Sweden, an industry that is characterised by a strong ‘symbolic’ knowledge base. Aim is to address the question of the local versus the non-local as the prime arena for knowledge exchange, and to examine the organisational patterns of knowledge sourcing with specific attention paid to the nature of the knowledge sourced. Symbolic industries draw heavily on creative production and a cultural awareness that is strongly embedded in the local context; thus knowledge flows and networks are expected to be most of all locally configured, and firms to rely on informal knowledge sources rather than scientific knowledge or principles. Based on structured and semi-structured interviews with firm representatives, these assumptions are empirically assessed through social network analysis and descriptive statistics. Our findings show that firms rely above all on knowledge that is generated in project work through learning-by-doing and by interaction with other firms in localised networks. The analysis contributes to transcending the binary arguments on the role of geography for knowledge exchange which tend to dominate the innovation studies literature. |
| Keywords: | knowledge base; cultural industry; regional innovation system; network analysis; Sweden |
| JEL: | O30 |
| Date: | 2010–12–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:lucirc:2010_007&r=net |