Networks, Knowledge, and Niches: Competition in the Worldwide Semiconductor Industry, 1984-1991

The authors develop a conceptions of an organization-specific niche in a technological network. This niche is defined by two properties: crowding and status. The authors hypothesize that crowding suppresses and organization's life chances and that status enhances life chances, especially for those organizations in uncrowded niches. They operationalize this conception of the niche using patents and patent citations, and they find support for these hypotheses in an examination of technological competition in the worldwide semiconductor industry. In the conclusion, they compare these findings to earlier research and highlight some of the particular advantages of this conception of the niche.