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Where Do Social Support and Epistemic Centrality Come From? The Case of Innovators in the French Biotech Industry

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  • Alvaro Pina Stranger

    (CREM - Centre de recherche en économie et management - UNICAEN - Université de Caen Normandie - NU - Normandie Université - UR - Université de Rennes - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Germán Varas

    (CREM - Centre de recherche en économie et management - UNICAEN - Université de Caen Normandie - NU - Normandie Université - UR - Université de Rennes - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

  • Valentin Gerard

    (CREM - Centre de recherche en économie et management - UNICAEN - Université de Caen Normandie - NU - Normandie Université - UR - Université de Rennes - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

The link between entrepreneur's network centrality and innovation performance has been broadly studied in knowledge-intensive industries such as biotechnology. However, little research has been focused on the social mechanisms that allow innovators to reach such a central position. We contribute to the existing literature by exploring the factors that may lead or prevent entrepreneurs from reaching a central position in their professional networks of knowledge exchange and social support in French biotech milieu. We use a unique quantitative and qualitative database of 138 and 126 biotech entrepreneurs observed, respectively, in 2008 and 2013. When accounting for entrepreneurs' position in the social (friendship) and knowledge (advice) domain, we draw on three dimensions through which entrepreneurs build their position: their professional experience, their inter-organizational (or political) engagement, and the financial and geographical situation of their company. Results from a regression analysis showed that the specific individual and organizational aspects of the trajectory of the entrepreneurs explain their position in the observed networks. Factors such as the previous experience in the health industry, the training expertise, the international experience, the political engagement, and the geographical and financial situation of the company help entrepreneurs to build up their centrality. The two observations allow us to describe indirectly the evolution of norms that are considered legitimated to carry out innovation in the biotech field.

Suggested Citation

  • Alvaro Pina Stranger & Germán Varas & Valentin Gerard, 2023. "Where Do Social Support and Epistemic Centrality Come From? The Case of Innovators in the French Biotech Industry," Post-Print hal-04223156, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04223156
    DOI: 10.3390/admsci13080183
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-04223156
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Keywords

    centrality; biotechnology industry; advice network; friendship network; entrepreneurs; innovation;
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