Abstract:
The actor composition of inter-organizational ego-networks is largely ignored in research on territorial
innovation models. To fill this gap, this paper explores with which sets of external actors (that is, configurations) firms maintain
inter-organizational knowledge links. Subsequently, it analyses the differences in innovative performance between firms engaged
in different configurations, also taking into account their geographical dimensions. Four configurations emerged, all of which have
positive effects on a firm’s innovative performance in comparison with the ‘go-at-it-alone’ strategy. After controlling for actor
composition and tie depth, however, their geographical composition is found to be unrelated to the innovative performance of
firms.
