Roles of Brokers and Clusters in the Inter-firm Network Dynamics: Evolution Map Perspective

The inter-firm network is affected by changes that sometimes occur as a result of unexpected external crises, such as financial collapses or natural disasters. Major parts of the inter-firm network are disrupted or replaced by new links after such crises. However, we know little about which parts and kinds of networks are more resilient to such external changes. In this study, we focus on the brokers that connect distant clusters. By using a quantitative index to detect brokers in the inter-firm network, we investigated how they updated their transactions and clusters over a recent 10 years in Japan. Our findings show that brokers tended to have fewer neighbors, high transitions, and high mobility among clusters. The results were evaluated using three case studies extracted from an evolution map perspective: stable clusters with local diversity, regional clusters with local hubs, and small temporal clusters with brokers.