Methods of quantifying specialized knowledge and network rewiring

Abstract

Technological innovations are a major driver of economic development that depend on the exchange of knowledge and ideas among those with unique but complementary specialized knowledge and knowhow. However, measurement of specialized knowledge embedded in technologists, scientists and entrepreneurs in the knowledge economy presents an empirical challenge as both the exchange of knowledge and knowledge itself remain difficult to observe. We develop novel measures of specialized knowledge using a unique dataset of longitudinal records of participation at technology-focused meetup events in two regional knowledge economics. Our measures of specialized knowledge can be further used to quantify the extend of knowledge spillover and network rewiring and uncover underlying social mechanisms that contribute to the development of increasingly complex and differentiated networks in maturing knowledge economies. We apply these methods in the context of the rapid morphogenesis of emerging regional technology economies in New York City and Los Angeles.