The skills and knowledge of the workforce are defining assets of the firm, and are directly related to internal and external collaboration. Co-worker relationships within regions also largely determine whether linkages to other sectors and regions are promoting growth of sectors and regions.

We analyze the relationship between skills of employees, the network structure of their interactions, and firm performance. We combine survey data, social network (linkedIn) data and administrative data in this project. The first article of this project analyzes the relationship between local vs. distant connections and the skills of workers. The next considers the role network position of firms in firm growth. This project is in collaboration with Rikard Eriksson from Umea university. Our current efforts are to extend the Swedish data by surveying organizational networks in Hungary collaborating with a large multinational enterprise.