Mapping the Korean national R&D system: a capability-based network approach to actor heterogeneity

Abstract This study introduces a capability-based network framework for analyzing actor heterogeneity in the Korean national R&D system. Using project-level data from the National Science and Technology Information System (NTIS)—comprising 63,305 R&D projects conducted by 593 innovation actors across 222 science and technology fields in 2021—we construct an R&D Actor Space in which universities, firms, and government research institutes (GRIs) are connected by similarity in their research portfolios. The framework complements existing Triple Helix and innovation system perspectives by focusing on capability heterogeneity within actor categories. The resulting network is positively assortative: high-degree actors tend to connect with other highly connected actors, with within-type rich-club patterns among firms and GRIs but a more degree-egalitarian connectivity pattern among universities. Hierarchical clustering reveals a stratification that is type-coherent yet sectorally organized: universities anchor a densely connected central region, firms form multiple capability-coherent industry sub-clusters, and a heterogeneous mixed region interleaves all three types in sectoral groupings that cut across institutional categories. The findings highlight a capability-composition mismatch between universities and firms and show that cross-type structure is organized more by sectoral portfolio similarity than by institutional category alone. We discuss implications for Korean R&D policy and outline comparative and longitudinal extensions.