IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/arx/papers/1509.08291.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The spatial component of R&D networks

Author

Listed:
  • Tobias Scholl
  • Antonios Garas
  • Frank Schweitzer

Abstract

We study the role of geography in R&D networks by means of a quantitative, micro-geographic approach. Using a large database that covers international R&D collaborations from 1984 to 2009, we localize each actor precisely in space through its latitude and longitude. This allows us to analyze the R&D network at all geographic scales simultaneously. Our empirical results show that despite the high importance of the city level, transnational R&D collaborations at large distances are much more frequent than expected from similar networks. This provides evidence for the ambiguity of distance in economic cooperation which is also suggested by the existing literature. In addition we test whether the hypothesis of local buzz and global pipelines applies to the observed R&D network by calculating well-defined metrics from network theory.

Suggested Citation

  • Tobias Scholl & Antonios Garas & Frank Schweitzer, 2015. "The spatial component of R&D networks," Papers 1509.08291, arXiv.org.
  • Handle: RePEc:arx:papers:1509.08291
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://arxiv.org/pdf/1509.08291
    File Function: Latest version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Davenport, Sally, 2005. "Exploring the role of proximity in SME knowledge-acquisition," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 683-701, June.
    2. Mario V. Tomasello & Mauro Napoletano & Antonios Garas & Frank Schweitzer, 2017. "The rise and fall of R&D networks," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 26(4), pages 617-646.
    3. Holger Graf & Jens Kruger, 2011. "The Performance of Gatekeepers in Innovator Networks," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(1), pages 69-88.
    4. Gilles Duranton & Henry G. Overman, 2005. "Testing for Localization Using Micro-Geographic Data," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 72(4), pages 1077-1106.
    5. Glaeser, Edward L., 1999. "Learning in Cities," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 254-277, September.
    6. Stefania Vitali & James B Glattfelder & Stefano Battiston, 2011. "The Network of Global Corporate Control," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(10), pages 1-6, October.
    7. Muller, Emmanuel & Doloreux, David, 2009. "What we should know about knowledge-intensive business services," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 64-72.
    8. Glaeser, Edward L & Hedi D. Kallal & Jose A. Scheinkman & Andrei Shleifer, 1992. "Growth in Cities," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(6), pages 1126-1152, December.
      • Edward L. Glaeser & Hedi D. Kallal & Jose A. Scheinkman & Andrei Shleifer, 1991. "Growth in Cities," NBER Working Papers 3787, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
      • Glaeser, Edward Ludwig & Kallal, Hedi D. & Scheinkman, Jose A. & Shleifer, Andrei, 1992. "Growth in Cities," Scholarly Articles 3451309, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    9. Lambiotte, Renaud & Blondel, Vincent D. & de Kerchove, Cristobald & Huens, Etienne & Prieur, Christophe & Smoreda, Zbigniew & Van Dooren, Paul, 2008. "Geographical dispersal of mobile communication networks," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 387(21), pages 5317-5325.
    10. Cohen, Wesley M & Klepper, Steven, 1996. "Firm Size and the Nature of Innovation within Industries: The Case of Process and Product R&D," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 78(2), pages 232-243, May.
    11. Zoltan J. Acs & Felix R. Fitzroy & Ian Smith, 2008. "High Technology Employment, Wages and University R&D Spillovers: Evidence from US Cities," Chapters, in: Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy, chapter 22, pages 302-323, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    12. Cooke, Philip, 2001. "Regional Innovation Systems, Clusters, and the Knowledge Economy," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 10(4), pages 945-974, December.
    13. Grubesic, Tony H., 2008. "Zip codes and spatial analysis: Problems and prospects," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 129-149, June.
    14. Eckhardt Bode, 2004. "The spatial pattern of localized R&D spillovers: an empirical investigation for Germany," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 4(1), pages 43-64, January.
    15. Parto, Saeed & Doloreux, David, 2004. "Regional Innovation Systems: A Critical Synthesis," UNU-INTECH Discussion Paper Series 2004-17, United Nations University - INTECH.
    16. Hennemann, Stefan & Rybski, Diego & Liefner, Ingo, 2012. "The myth of global science collaboration—Collaboration patterns in epistemic communities," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 6(2), pages 217-225.
    17. Ron Boschma & Ron Martin (ed.), 2010. "The Handbook of Evolutionary Economic Geography," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 12864.
    18. Gassmann, Oliver & von Zedtwitz, Maximilian, 1999. "New concepts and trends in international R&D organization," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(2-3), pages 231-250, March.
    19. Zoltan J. Acs & David B. Audretsch & Maryann P. Feldman, 2008. "Real Effects of Academic Research: Comment," Chapters, in: Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy, chapter 7, pages 83-87, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    20. Fritsch, Michael & Franke, Grit, 2004. "Innovation, regional knowledge spillovers and R&D cooperation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 245-255, March.
    21. Marta C. González & César A. Hidalgo & Albert-László Barabási, 2009. "Understanding individual human mobility patterns," Nature, Nature, vol. 458(7235), pages 238-238, March.
    22. Paul Ryan & Majella Giblin & Edel Walshe, 2004. "From Subcontracted R&D To Joint Collaboration: The Role Of Trust In Facilitating This Process," International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management (IJITM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 1(02), pages 205-231.
    23. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/f6h8764enu2lskk9p5487a6cm is not listed on IDEAS
    24. de Jong, Jeroen P.J. & Freel, Mark, 2010. "Absorptive capacity and the reach of collaboration in high technology small firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 47-54, February.
    25. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/f6h8764enu2lskk9p5487a6cm is not listed on IDEAS
    26. Manfred Paier & Thomas Scherngell, 2011. "Determinants of Collaboration in European R&D Networks: Empirical Evidence from a Discrete Choice Model," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(1), pages 89-104.
    27. D. Brockmann & L. Hufnagel & T. Geisel, 2006. "The scaling laws of human travel," Nature, Nature, vol. 439(7075), pages 462-465, January.
    28. Tom Broekel & Pierre-Alexandre Balland & Martijn Burger & Frank Oort, 2014. "Modeling knowledge networks in economic geography: a discussion of four methods," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 53(2), pages 423-452, September.
    29. Georghiou, Luke, 1998. "Global cooperation in research," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 27(6), pages 611-626, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jóna, György & Tóth, Tamás, 2017. "Spatial Effects And Externalities Of The Rivals’ Networks In Hungary," Journal of Tourism, Sustainability and Well-being, Cinturs - Research Centre for Tourism, Sustainability and Well-being, University of Algarve, vol. 5(3), pages 189-207.
    2. Antonios Garas & Celine Rozenblat & Frank Schweitzer, 2015. "The network structure of city-firm relations," Papers 1512.02859, arXiv.org.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tobias Scholl & Antonios Garas & Frank Schweitzer, 2018. "The spatial component of R&D networks," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 28(2), pages 417-436, April.
    2. Carlino, Gerald & Kerr, William R., 2015. "Agglomeration and Innovation," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 349-404, Elsevier.
    3. Guridi, Jose A. & Pertuze, Julio A. & Pfotenhauer, Sebastian M., 2020. "Natural laboratories as policy instruments for technological learning and institutional capacity building: The case of Chile's astronomy cluster," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(2).
    4. Cabrer-Borras, Bernardi & Serrano-Domingo, Guadalupe, 2007. "Innovation and R&D spillover effects in Spanish regions: A spatial approach," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(9), pages 1357-1371, November.
    5. Thomas Doring & Jan Schnellenbach, 2006. "What do we know about geographical knowledge spillovers and regional growth?: A survey of the literature," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(3), pages 375-395.
    6. Filippopoulos, Nikolaos & Fotopoulos, Georgios, 2022. "Innovation in economically developed and lagging European regions: A configurational analysis," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(2).
    7. Robert Huggins & Piers Thompson, 2015. "Entrepreneurship, innovation and regional growth: a network theory," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 103-128, June.
    8. Hamidi, Shima & Zandiatashbar, Ahoura & Bonakdar, Ahmad, 2019. "The relationship between regional compactness and regional innovation capacity (RIC): Empirical evidence from a national study," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 394-402.
    9. Miguel Ángel García & Ivan Muñiz, 2005. "El impacto espacial de las economías de aglomeración y su efecto sobre la estructura urbana.El caso de la industria en Barcelona, 1986-1996," Working Papers wpdea0509, Department of Applied Economics at Universitat Autonoma of Barcelona.
    10. Tom Broekel & Marcel Bednarz, 2018. "Disentangling link formation and dissolution in spatial networks: An Application of a Two-Mode STERGM to a Project-Based R&D Network in the German Biotechnology Industry," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 677-704, September.
    11. Frank G. van Oort & Martijn J. Burger & Joris Knoben & Otto Raspe, 2012. "Multilevel Approaches And The Firm-Agglomeration Ambiguity In Economic Growth Studies," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(3), pages 468-491, July.
    12. Sleuwaegen, Leo & Boiardi, Priscilla, 2014. "Creativity and regional innovation: Evidence from EU regions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(9), pages 1508-1522.
    13. Elvira Cerver-Romero & João J. Ferreira & Cristina Fernandes, 2020. "A scientometric analysis of knowledge spillover research," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 45(3), pages 780-805, June.
    14. Andrés Rodríguez‐Pose & Callum Wilkie, 2019. "Innovating in less developed regions: What drives patenting in the lagging regions of Europe and North America," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1), pages 4-37, March.
    15. Horváth, Márton & Hau-Horváth, Orsolya, 2014. "A földrajzi közelség szerepe az innovációs együttműködésekben - illúzió vagy valós tényező?. Szakirodalmi áttekintés [The role of geographical proximity in efforts to cooperate on innovation - illu," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(12), pages 1419-1446.
    16. repec:elg:eechap:14395_12 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. David Audretsch & Marcel Hülsbeck & Erik Lehmann, 2012. "Regional competitiveness, university spillovers, and entrepreneurial activity," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 39(3), pages 587-601, October.
    18. Haifeng Qian & Zoltán J. Ács & Roger R. Stough, 2015. "Regional systems of entrepreneurship: the nexus of human capital, knowledge and new firm formation," Chapters, in: Global Entrepreneurship, Institutions and Incentives, chapter 14, pages 257-285, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    19. Miguel Angel García & Ivan Muñiz, 2005. "The spatial effect of intra-metropolitan agglomeration economies," Working Papers wpdea0513, Department of Applied Economics at Universitat Autonoma of Barcelona.
    20. Silvia Vicente-Oliva & Ángel Martínez-Sánchez & Luis Berges-Muro, 2016. "Enhancing The Outcomes In R&D Collaborative Projects: An Empirical Analysis Of The Middle Ebro Valley In Spain," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 20(07), pages 1-34, October.
    21. Rune Fitjar & Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, 2013. "The geographical dimension of innovation collaboration: Collaboration and innovation in Norway," ERSA conference papers ersa13p878, European Regional Science Association.

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:arx:papers:1509.08291. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: arXiv administrators (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://arxiv.org/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.