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Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues Open access
Journal Impact FactorTM (2025) 1.5 Q3
Journal Citation IndicatorTM (2025) 0.25 Q4
Received: 2024-05-10  |  Accepted: 2024-08-22  |  Published: 2024-09-30

Title

Formal and informal innovation networks: a review


Abstract

The paper addressed the important problem of systematization of empirical research in the field of formal and informal innovation networks. After an extensive literature study of 65 papers from 2003-2023, four thematic areas were formed: innovation network creation, structure and participants; innovation network evolution, activities and interactions; factors influencing innovation networks; and results from innovation network activities for the participants and third parties. Besides them, several interesting topics were discovered concerning network-specific structural forms, peculiarities of adaptive management, and the knowledge transfer mechanics of contracting for innovation. The systematization also showed several contradictions in the results and gaps in the empirical research, which outline the need for more studies about the intensity of formal and informal contact between participants and their influence on the transformation, development and sustainability of the networks and the contribution of formal and informal networks to the diffusion of knowledge and innovations.


Keywords

innovation, formal networks, informal networks, survey, empirical analysis, systematization


JEL classifications

D85 , O31 , O32


URI

http://jssidoi.org/jesi/article/1236


DOI


Pages

342-361


Funding


This is an open access issue and all published articles are licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Authors

Todorov, Lyubomir
D. A. Tsenov Academy of Economics, Svishtov, Bulgaria https://www.uni-svishtov.bg
Articles by this author in: CrossRef |  Google Scholar

Shopova, Margarita
D. A. Tsenov Academy of Economics, Svishtov, Bulgaria https://www.uni-svishtov.bg
Articles by this author in: CrossRef |  Google Scholar

Bogdanova, Margarita
D. A. Tsenov Academy of Economics, Svishtov, Bulgaria https://www.uni-svishtov.bg
Articles by this author in: CrossRef |  Google Scholar

Parashkevova, Evelina
D. A. Tsenov Academy of Economics, Svishtov, Bulgaria https://www.uni-svishtov.bg
Articles by this author in: CrossRef |  Google Scholar

Journal title

Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues

Volume

12


Number

1


Issue date

September 2024


Issue DOI


ISSN

ISSN 2345-0282 (online)


Publisher

VšĮ Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Center, Vilnius, Lithuania

Cited

Google Scholar

Article views & downloads

HTML views: 2447  |  PDF downloads: 1155

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