The role of multiple ties in knowledge network

Studies on economic actors’ relationships and network structures have more and more attracted the attention of several scholars, but surprisingly little is known about the role played by heterogeneous knowledge ties among the same set of actors, and to what extent they follow overlapping or different routes of knowledge exchange. In this line, an investigation on multiple knowledge networks in clusters is a fundamental approach to interpret reasons of regional innovation and economic performance. With an original dataset comprised of data collected with directly administered surveys in local wineries in the Montefalco wine region, Italy, we aim to analyse the roles played by different local knowledge ties within a sector that is critically driven by knowledge exchange among economic actors. Social Network Analysis and Exponential Random Graph Modelling is applied in order to investigate the driving forces of the knowledge flows. Empirical results show that different kinds of relationships positively impact on the spread of knowledge, but they are different in magnitude and they follow complementary routes of exchange rather than overlapping ones.