Networks, social capital, and knowledge production

Abstract

This is the revised version of a paper that I presented at the research conference on “International Competitiveness and Innovative Capacity in Universities and Research Organizations-New Modes of Governance” in May 2001 at the FÖV, Speyer. This became the starting point for building a network of researchers with the aim of analyzing the reforms of the German research system and their consequences for research conditions and performance. A research stay at the Interuniversity Consortium on Social Science Theory and Methodology at the University of Groningen, NL, afforded me the time to return to this unfinished manuscript. I acknowledge funding from the National Science Organization of the Netherlands and thank my hosts at the ICS Groningen for providing such a stimulating research environment.