Public Research in Regional Networks of Innovators:
A Comparative Study of Four East-German Regions

The authors analyse four East German local networks of innovators which differ in structure and innovative performance and investigate the characteristic role of public research within these local systems by applying methods of social network analysis. Results show that universities and non-university institutions of public research are key actors in all regional networks of innovators both in terms of patent output and
in terms of centrality of their position in the networks.