Behaviour in networks of collaborators: theory and evidence from the English judiciary

This paper uses data on judicial citations to explore whether the diffusion and/or application of knowledge within an organisation is affected by worker connectivity. Developing a simple model of discretionary citations, we distinguish between two hypotheses: knowledge diffusion whereby connected ju...

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Huvudupphovsmän: Leaver, C, Vidal, J
Materialtyp: Working paper
Publicerad: University of Oxford 2007
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author Leaver, C
Vidal, J
author_facet Leaver, C
Vidal, J
author_sort Leaver, C
collection OXFORD
description This paper uses data on judicial citations to explore whether the diffusion and/or application of knowledge within an organisation is affected by worker connectivity. Developing a simple model of discretionary citations, we distinguish between two hypotheses: knowledge diffusion whereby connected judges are more likely to be aware of each others' cases than unconnected judges, and socialisation whereby judges are more likely to be positively disposed to judges to whom they are more connected. Our empirical strategy exploits three important institutional features: (a) the random allocation of judges to case committees in the English Court of Appeal, (b) the existence of both positive and neutral citations and (c) the fact that connections occur over time. We are able to reject the knowledge diffusion hypothesis in its simplest form. We are unable to reject the socialisation hypothesis, and find strong evidence to support it. The paper concludes with a discussion of implications for other knowledge-based organisations.
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spelling oxford-uuid:f876cfae-839c-4df1-9f8c-00ea1df76c312022-03-27T12:50:25ZBehaviour in networks of collaborators: theory and evidence from the English judiciaryWorking paperhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_8042uuid:f876cfae-839c-4df1-9f8c-00ea1df76c31Symplectic ElementsBulk import via SwordUniversity of Oxford2007Leaver, CVidal, JThis paper uses data on judicial citations to explore whether the diffusion and/or application of knowledge within an organisation is affected by worker connectivity. Developing a simple model of discretionary citations, we distinguish between two hypotheses: knowledge diffusion whereby connected judges are more likely to be aware of each others' cases than unconnected judges, and socialisation whereby judges are more likely to be positively disposed to judges to whom they are more connected. Our empirical strategy exploits three important institutional features: (a) the random allocation of judges to case committees in the English Court of Appeal, (b) the existence of both positive and neutral citations and (c) the fact that connections occur over time. We are able to reject the knowledge diffusion hypothesis in its simplest form. We are unable to reject the socialisation hypothesis, and find strong evidence to support it. The paper concludes with a discussion of implications for other knowledge-based organisations.
spellingShingle Leaver, C
Vidal, J
Behaviour in networks of collaborators: theory and evidence from the English judiciary
title Behaviour in networks of collaborators: theory and evidence from the English judiciary
title_full Behaviour in networks of collaborators: theory and evidence from the English judiciary
title_fullStr Behaviour in networks of collaborators: theory and evidence from the English judiciary
title_full_unstemmed Behaviour in networks of collaborators: theory and evidence from the English judiciary
title_short Behaviour in networks of collaborators: theory and evidence from the English judiciary
title_sort behaviour in networks of collaborators theory and evidence from the english judiciary
work_keys_str_mv AT leaverc behaviourinnetworksofcollaboratorstheoryandevidencefromtheenglishjudiciary
AT vidalj behaviourinnetworksofcollaboratorstheoryandevidencefromtheenglishjudiciary