Projects
Key projects at The Centre for Networks and Enterprise Excellence include the following:
Green Bonds Pricing
Project Background
Green bonds are instruments to finance corporate projects in decarbonisation and renewable energy. Since their introduction a decade ago they have become one of the key means for financing the green transition. The use of green bonds to improve environmental corporate goals (and ESG scores) would represent a novel approach to examine corporate performance.
Research Questions
Can Green Bond Pricing be Associated with Environmental Data?
Methods
Graph matching algorithms to identify key structural patterns. Linear Weighted Combining. Kernel Principal Component Analysis. Objective expert & stakeholder identification (PEST).
Project Leads / Supervisors
G.Peters (MACS) & D. Christopoulos
Co-investigators/ RAs/ PHDs
H. McGregor; M. Smith (Napier); PhD student
Funding
UKRI
Knowledge Transfer and Innovation Diffusion
Project Overview
The capacity of regional industrial clusters to implement green technologies is contingent on: knowledge exchange networks, knowledge creation networks, collaboration networks and the position of key actors in this multi-layered structure.
Research Questions
Are there opportunities to optimize the interaction of critical nodes? What would make these systems of knowledge exchange resilient?
Methods
Social Network Analysis, employing descriptive, visual and inferential analytic methods.
Project Lead / Supervisor
D Christopoulos
Co-investigators/ RAs/ PHDs
G. Peters (MACS); Y. Sarabi; M. Smith (Napier); PhD student
Journals & Dissemination
We will collect collaboration data from each cluster and combine their analysis in a mixed methods research design with publicly available data on patents, KTPs, research funding and other tangible evidence of innovation.
Funding
EPSRC
Findings
A. Identify and compare best practice, (including UKRI knowledge transfer partnerships), among clusters. B. Identify latent capacity in systems of knowledge exchange. C. Report on each of the six industrial clusters. D. Report on policy implications. E. Contribute to the improvement of standards (i.e. ISO 30401).
Women Directors in the FTSE 100 & FTSE 350
Project Background
To investigate the career progression of women directors as well as the gender structure of boards of FTSE100 companies, from 2010-2017.
Research Questions
How the positions and relationships of women directors in the interlocking directorate networks or UK FTSE100 companies could hav an impact on them acquiring more directorship positions.
Methods
Network analysis of interlocks. In depth interviews.Multimode analysis.
Project Lead / Supervisor
Heather McGregor
Co-investigators/ RAs/ PHDs
Dimitris Christopoulos, Yasaman Sarabi, Mat Smith (Napier)
Journals & Dissemination
Conference papers (BAM, INSNA etc); Administrtive Science Quarterly (under review); Gender in Management (accepted); Management Decision (under review).
A census of all directors in the FTSE 100 between 2010-2017 through publicly available records. Targeted interviews.
Funding
Edinburgh Business School
Risk in Decarbonization Finance
Project Background
Green bonds are instruments to finance corporate projects in decarbonisation and renewable energy. Since their introduction a decade ago they have become one of the key means for financing the green transition. The use of green bonds to improve environmental corporate goals (and ESG scores) would represent a novel approach to examine corporate performance.
Research Questions
Can Green Bond Pricing be Associated with Environmental Data?
Methods
Graph matching algorithms to identify key structural patterns. Linear Weighted Combining. Kernel Principal Component Analysis. Objective expert & stakeholder identification (PEST).
Project Lead / Supervisors
G.Peters (School of Mathamtics and Computer Sciences) & D. Christopoulos
Co-Investigators / RAs/ PHDs
H. McGregor; M. Smith (Napier); PhD student
Funding
UKRI
Venture Capital Networks
Project Background
An analysis of the syndication of venture capital finance across different economic regions in Europe and globally.
Research Questions
Is venture capital in the UK and Europe syndicating risk differently? Does risk syndication patterns affect fund success? Does Public Venture Capital have different returns from Private VC?
Methods
Network analysis. In depth interviews. Multimode analysis.
Project Lead / Supervisors
D. Christopoulos & Heather McGregor
Co-investigators/ RAs/ PHDs
PHD student - Stefan Koeppl
Journals
Journal of Small Business Economics (under review); *Journal of Venture Capital (draft)
Funding
Edinburgh Business School
Knowledge Networks in Decarbonisation Science
Project Background
This project examines UK (and global) industrial innovation associated to decarbonisation. Our analysis combines data from multiple sources, including UKRI funding, patent data and firm level information. We aim to delineate key knowledge assets of industrial decarbonisation clusters and suggest optimal innovation practice and policy.
Co-investigators/ RAs/ PHDs
- Professor Umit Bititci EBS-HWU
- Professor Dimitris Christopoulos EBS-HWU
- Dr David Dekker EBS-HWU
- Professor Heather McGregor EBS-HWU
- Professor Gareth Peters, UC Santa Barbara
- Dr Matthew Smith Edinburgh Napier University
- Professor George Tzougas, AMS-HWU
- Ms Marta Campi, EBS-HWU
- Post-doc researcher (from February 2022)
Funding
UKRI - A project associated to IDRIC innovation centre
Risk in Decarbonisation Finance
Project Background
Green bonds are financial assets that have become crucial means for institutions, NGOs and governments to raise funding for green investments. Green Bonds are critical to industrial decarbonisation. Despite being a US$1 trillion global market, their relatively recent emergence means they are understudied in academic literature. There is a major gap in our understanding of the association between a number of interrelated processes.
These include the capital raised to fund green infrastructure projects; the disbursement of funds for such projects; the project selection success and mechanisms; and the environmental impact of these funds on climate mitigation and carbon neutralisation. For industrial decarbonisation to proceed at pace there will need to be an equivalent speed in decarbonisation funding innovation. This will depend on issuers and underwriters understanding the risks associated with this funding, which in turn depend on a complex set of interrelated socioeconomic systems.
Project Leads
H.McGregor and D.Christopoulos
Co-investigators/ RAs/ PHDs
G.Peters (UC Santa Barbara)
Research Aim
Introduce and measure new variants of risk that will improve innovation in the funding for decarbonisation. Furthermore we aim to:
- Identify resilient structures among the finance networks of decarbonisation
- Identify other risk frameworks, such as environmental or policy risk
- Identify opportunity areas with low levels of risk and latent potential
- Develop practical decision frameworks for funding decarbonisation
- Report on Policy Implications and Strategic Guidance
Methods
Natural Language Processing, Network Science, Econometrics
Funding
UKRI via IDRIC
Knowledge Networks and Cluster Analysis
Project Background
Technological invention and scientific research does not readily translate into innovative practice. This is evident in the variance of innovation performance among UK industrial clusters. In this project we look at the way regional industrial clusters innovate and implement new green technologies. We identify effective innovation dissemination by looking at knowledge creation, as well as the collaboration and patent networks behind it. We map this complex landscape and identify industries where there are opportunities for optimizing the interaction between critical nodes. Of particular interest here is the innovation potential from ties between industry and academia. We compare these complex network structures between UK industrial regions and highlight best practice in knowledge network clusters. This with particular reference to the knowledge created and disseminated by partners in the IDRIC project. We therefore intend to assess the impact of IDRIC in the creation and dissemination of knowledge.
Research Questions
- Identify and compare optimal structures and best innovation practice in UK clusters (including UKRI knowledge transfer partnerships)
- Identify latent capacity (and any redundancy) in systems of knowledge exchange
Project Lead
D.Christopoulos
Co-investigators/ RAs/ PHDs
H.McGregor and M.Smith (Napier)
Research Methods
Multi-mode network analysis to identify optimal collaboration patterns in innovation networks. Graph matching algorithms to identify the robustness and resilience of knowledge exchange in industrial clusters. We have designed a project that innovatively integrates a group of cogent methods in a mixed methods research design. These take advantage of our expertise and include network analysis, econometric methods, the snowball sampling of expert stakeholders and advanced statistical analysis.
Funding
UKRI vis IDRIC
A Theory of Identity Formation
Project Background
We propose a new theoretical framework that captures social movements and possible political and social cleavages.
Project Leads
Marco Pelliccia, Arup Daripa, and Sandeep Kapur
Funding
Self-funded