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Metropolitan patenting, inventor agglomeration and social networks: A tale of two effects

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  • Lobo, José
  • Strumsky, Deborah
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    Abstract

    We investigate the separate effects on metropolitan patenting of inventor agglomeration and the structure of social networks linking inventors within and across metropolitan areas in the United States between 1977 and 2002. Using patent data we have been able to assign a metropolitan location to individual inventors, link inventors who have co-authored patents, and characterize the structural features of the networks linking inventors. Our main question concerns the relative importance of salient features of the social networks linking inventors on metropolitan patenting productivity. We find that agglomerative features of metropolitan areas are more important determinants of metropolitan patenting productivity than structural feature of the inventive networks. While the aggregation of isolated inventors correlates positively with patenting productivity, density of connections correlates negatively.

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    Bibliographic Info

    Article provided by Elsevier in its journal Journal of Urban Economics.

    Volume (Year): 63 (2008)
    Issue (Month): 3 (May)
    Pages: 871-884

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    Handle: RePEc:eee:juecon:v:63:y:2008:i:3:p:871-884

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    Web page: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/622905

    Related research

    Keywords: Metropolitan patenting productivity Inventor aggregation Social networks of inventors Network effects;

    References

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    Citations

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    Cited by:
    1. Lobo, José & Mellander, Charlotta & Stolarick, Kevin & Strumsky, Deborah, 2012. "The Inventive, the Educated, and the Creative: How Do They Affect Metropolitan Productivity?," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 263, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies.
    2. Ford, Timothy C. & Rork, Jonathan C., 2010. "Why buy what you can get for free? The effect of foreign direct investment on state patent rates," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 72-81, July.
    3. Aurélie LALANNE (GREThA, CNRS, UMR 5113) & Guillaume POUYANNE ( GREThA, CNRS, UMR 5113), 2012. "Ten years of metropolization in economics: a bibliometric approach (In French)," Cahiers du GREThA 2012-11, Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée.
    4. Ceren Ozgen, 2011. "The Impact of Cultural Diversity on Innovation: Evidence from Dutch Firm-Level Data," Norface Discussion Paper Series 2011013, Norface Research Programme on Migration, Department of Economics, University College London.
    5. Riccardo Crescenzi & Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, 2012. "An 'integrated' framework for the comparative analysis of the territorial innovation dynamics of developed and emerging countries," Working Papers 2012-02, Instituto Madrileño de Estudios Avanzados (IMDEA) Ciencias Sociales.
    6. Cassi, Lorenzo & Plunket, Anne, 2012. "Research collaboration in co-­inventor networks: combining closure,bridging and proximities," MPRA Paper 39481, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Helsley, Robert W. & Strange, William C., 2011. "Entrepreneurs and cities: Complexity, thickness and balance," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 550-559.
    8. Ceren Ozgen & Peter Nijkamp & Jacques Poot, 2013. "Measuring Cultural Diversity and its Impact on Innovation: Longitudinal Evidence from Dutch firms," Norface Discussion Paper Series 2013003, Norface Research Programme on Migration, Department of Economics, University College London.
    9. Ozgen, Ceren & Nijkamp, Peter & Poot, Jacques, 2011. "The Impact of Cultural Diversity on Innovation: Evidence from Dutch Firm-Level Data," IZA Discussion Papers 6000, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).

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