Social capital: Its relationship to innovation in science and technology

This paper argues that social capital is a necessary, although not sufficient, enabler of effective public-private partnerships and of a new, more collaborative style of innovation policy, although its significance for science and technology policy, has yet to be assimilated by most policy-makers. The network structure of the biotechnology industry in the United States and the regional-based industrial system in Silicon Valley, California are used to show how social capital affects innovation in science and technology. Two US national policy programs — the advanced Technology Program and the Manufacturing Extension Partnership — make evident the growing importance of network development. A set of recommendations is given, designed to enhance innovative capacity through the formation of social capital. The central arguments regarding social capital and its relationship to innovation transcend national boundaries, and many of the policy recommendations are important for western European, some East Asian and several other industrial states.