Creative Collaborations: The interplay of Agency and Structure

This paper probes into the fundamental question of whether networks drive creativity or vice versa. In doing so, the study conducted in this paper utilizes a powerful and relatively new method (SIENA) that can simultaneously model the co-evolution of networks and behavior. The findings of the study provide support to the hypotheses that predict while social interactions drive creativity, an individual’s demonstrated capability in producing novel ideas also affects the evolution of collaborations networks. These findings contribute to research on agency vs. structure as well as network externalities.