Inter-Organisational Networks, Knowledge Spillovers, and Human Capital Development in Nigerian Industrial Clusters: A Social Network Analysis

This doctoral study applies Social Network Analysis (SNA) to examine inter-organisational network structures, knowledge spillover mechanisms, and their differential effects on human capital development in Nigerian industrial clusters, generating original theory on cluster-embedded HR development processes in African manufacturing contexts. Industrial clusters in Aba, Kano, and Lagos represent some of Nigeria's most significant concentrations of informal and semi-formal manufacturing activity, yet the network mechanisms through which human capital competencies flow between firms within clusters have not been systematically theorized or empirically mapped in the HR literature. Drawing on Marshall's Industrial District Theory, Burt's Structural Hole Theory, and the HR Ecosystem Framework, this study employs a two-stage design. First, complete network mapping using SNA techniques was applied to document the inter-firm knowledge and labour mobility networks in three clusters across 18 months, generating adjacency matrices of 340 firms and 2,100 workers. Second, multilevel regression with SNA structural metrics as predictors was applied to test hypothesised relationships between network position, knowledge spillover access, and worker skill development outcomes. The study generates three original theoretical contributions: a Cluster HR Development Network Model specifying the network structural conditions under which human capital spillovers occur; an empirical demonstration that brokerage positions in cluster networks generate disproportionate skill development opportunities for workers whose employers occupy them; and a theoretical refinement of cluster embeddedness that distinguishes productive and exploitative embeddedness as HR development mechanisms with opposing consequences for worker welfare. Recommendations include cluster HR development consortia, shared training infrastructure investment, and cluster network mapping tools for industrial development agencies. Keywords: inter-organisational networks, knowledge spillovers, human capital, industrial clusters, social network analysis Nigeria