Multilayer Network Analysis of Innovation Intermediaries' Activities

Policymakers wishing to enhance innovation processes in small andmedium-sized enterprises increasingly channel their interventions through inno-vation intermediaries. However, limited empirical research exists regarding theactivities and performance of intermediaries, with most contributions taking a qual-itative approach and focusing on the role of intermediaries as brokers. In this paper,we analyse the extent to which innovation intermediaries, through their engagementin different activities, support the creation of communities of other agents. We usemultilayer network analysis techniques to simultaneously represent the many typesof interactions promoted by intermediaries. Furthermore, by originally applying theInfomap algorithm to our multilayer network, we assess the contribution of theagents involved in different activities promoted by intermediaries, and we identifythe emerging multilayer communities and the intercohesive agents that span acrossseveral communities. Our analysis highlights the potential and the critical featuresof multilayer analysis for policy design and evaluation.