Imitation Performance in a Diffusion Network: A NK Model Approach

Innovation diffuses through a social network composed by firms and the partner relationships among firms. The more information each firm faced, the more complex the decision each imitator needed to make in following situation. Since the whole network can be regarded as a coupled system, the performance of firms and results of imitation are influenced by the complexity of the interactions among them. Hence, we developed a computational model to replicate Kauffman´s NK model and used to explain the innovation diffusion network. The docking results fitted other research results quite well and can be used in following researches in innovation diffusion. The results of our reprogrammed NK model indicated that the more partnership each firm has, the less likely that the imitation can success thus can earn a high rewards.