Managing Innovation Networks: A Multiplex Analysis of the Global Wind Power Industry

In this article, we treat innovation as a multidimensional construct spanning people, technologies, and geographies. We study how these dimensions interact and impact firms' inventor networks and the ultimate innovation performance. We identify five distinct planes in which inventor networks reside. Specifically, we distinguish between the types of ties that are possible between any two inventor nodes with respect to (i) co-located inventors; (ii) technology cohort; (iii) co-located technology cohort; (iv) distant co-inventors; and (v) co-located coinventors. We build a simple, yet parsimonious model of the costs and benefits of being centrally located on multiplex network versus having an equal distribution of ties between the different network layers. Using patent data on the global wind power industry, we find evidence suggesting that being centrally positioned on a multiplex network with an equal distribution of ties deteriorates rather than enhances innovation performance.