The role of policy incentives in the reproduction of asymmetries within nanotechnology knowledge networks.

We explore new perspectives for analysing knowledge networks, arguing that knowledge networks can no longer be referred to as egalitarian, non-hierarchical, and neutral forms of social organization. Instead, networks reproduce tensions, asymmetries, and hierarchies linked to science, technology, and innovation policy incentives and incorporate dynamic and multi-situated nodes of power. This paper draws on evidence gathered from a case study on transnational and translocal knowledge networks in nanotechnology, which have central nodes at a public research center located in Chihuahua (Chihuahua) and its auxiliary branch in Monterrey (Nuevo Leon) in Northern Mexico. We propose that, in order to understand the production of asymmetries in knowledge networks, an incentive policy element must be added to the equation. The latter refer to monetary, symbolic, and material incentives stemming from all arenas where networks interact. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]