A network analysis of investment firms as resource routers in Chinese innovation ecosystem

Abstract—This paper introduces the use of social network analysis for socially constructed data to study inter-organizational systems of innovation and their value-add supply chain. Through social network analysis, we explore the structure of relationships among Chinese technology-based companies, foreign technology-based companies with Chinese locations, Chinese investment firms, and foreign firms investing in Chinese companies – with particular attention to the business sectors related to e-commerce and internet security. We use an organizational sociology frame-work and socially constructed data in English to describe a Euro-American perspective on innovation ecosystems that link China globally. I