Abstract

The objective of this work is to provide a conceptual framework that allows to classify the studies and the recent applications of network analysis in the economic field. In this way, economic knowledge has been fertilized with existing network analysis models and, at the same time, gaps have been filled. Starting from the theoretical bases already present in the scientific literature and from the need to respond to the desire of a concrete and immediate elaboration of continuous flows of information, the present work develops a conceptual guide able to explain a theoretical and practical approach capable of giving solutions to the main economic problems and to identify, also, the relevant aspects with respect to which it is possible to carry out a more extensive evaluation, both from the point of view of observation and for the purposes obtained. The use of this framework helps to reclassify and put into practice the knowledge of research, thus favoring a more in-depth analysis of the interconnections and economic co-interests between actors. A 'network perspective' has been adopted for the first time, not limited to the analysis of the actor, but rather to the broader understanding of the environment in which it operates, considering its characteristics (of motility and resistance) and its possible evolution.