Date of Award

5-1-2024

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

College/School/Department

Department of Public Administration and Policy

Dissertation/Thesis Chair

R. Karl Rethemeyer

Committee Members

J. Ramon Gil-Garcia, Hongseok Lee

Subject Categories

Public Administration

Abstract

Although a networked mode of governance has been often considered as an alternative or superior approach compared to hierarchy and market-based models, it has become clear that networks are also susceptible to failure without purposeful and deliberative management of interorganizational relationships. Constructing a longitudinal dataset of 16 regional innovation networks in South Korea, this dissertation examines how Regional Public Research Institutes (RPRIs) serve as network managers who initiate, facilitate, and mediate regional innovation systems. Drawing on a network research tradition rooted in the Dutch School of governance networks, this study examines how RPRIs leverage social structural resources, originating from their network embeddedness, to improve regional innovation outcomes and catalyze network formation over time. The first essay expands our understanding of network management by exploring the role of RPRIs from both intra- and inter-network perspectives. Their intra-regional ties enable them to reduce transactional costs of collaboration, and their inter-network ties serve as a pipeline through which novel information and perspectives flow. The second essay employs a collaboration paradox as a theoretical lens to investigate the combined effects of social capital and network management. Bridging and bonding forms of social capital result in unity-diversity tension, and network management serves as a key contingency to use these double-edged swords without being stabbed. The third essay examines the impact of public research institutes on network evolution compared to other influential actors, like universities and conglomerate firms. Evidence from a Stochastic-Actor Oriented Model shows that their varying influence on tie formation stems from whether they convey integrity-based or competency-based trust to their potential partners through their organizational and social structural resources.

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