International collaboration towards innovation management: a network perspective and the Global Innovation Index

Abstract

This article aims to fill an existing knowledge gap within the literature: the characteristics of networks of publication on innovation management research and its relationship with country’s innovativeness. The study is grounded in the theory that the creation of knowledge and collaboration within networks play a pivotal role in improving a nation’s innovation capacity. It presents and describes the characteristics of co-authorship networks of scientific publications among authors from different countries. The published articles were extracted from the Scopus and Web of Science databases, considering a period of 12 years. Following the identification of pivotal countries, the research proceeded to investigate whether their positioning within the network has an impact on their innovation capabilities. To underpin this analysis, data from the Global Innovation Index ranking were employed. Among the six countries demonstrating noteworthy centrality metrics throughout the entire period, Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom are also categorized as innovators according to the Global Innovation Index. The overlap observed suggests a relationship between countries maintaining consolidated and resilient innovation networks and positive performance in terms of innovation. However, it should be noted that innovation is influenced by a range of factors, including strategies and policies on international collaboration.