Social network analysis and the study of university industry relations

Abstract

The methodological approach of Social Network Analysis (from now on, abbreviated SNA) can bring many benefits for the study of university and industry relations (from now on, abbreviated UIR). Relations between university and industry are important in innovation studies because they can be considered as an innovation network, in the sense that the interactions established by their participants have more or less defined innovation goals (Mansfield & Lee, 1996). SNA is the study of social structure (Wellman & Berkowitz, 1988). It describes a group of quantitative methods for analysing the ties among social entities and their implications (Wasserman & Faust, 2007). With the use of SNA it is possible to explore and to better understand different innovation outcomes involving UIR, by analysing the different measures and the structure of the social network. In this work the SNA methodological approach is described and its fundamental concepts are presented. The paper then reviews the applications of this approach on the study of the relationships between university and industry. The paper aims at systematizing the available information and knowledge, highlighting the main research pathways, the main conclusions and pointing possible future research questions.