The Network of Innovators in Jena: An Application of Social Network Analysis

We apply social network analysis methods to describe the evolution of the innovator network of Jena, Germany in the period from 1995 to 2001. We find this evolution to be directed towards an increasing focus on core competencies of the local innovation system. Further we analyze the network resulting from R&D cooperations and explain - by means of network regression techniques - that the job mobility of scientists and the technological overlap between the actors, rather than past cooperations, can best predict the resulting structure. We also observe an increasing importance of the university while the former "Kombinate" begin to lose their prominent role.