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The Effect of High-Tech Clusters on the Productivity of Top Inventors

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  • Enrico Moretti

Abstract

The high-tech sector is concentrated in a small number of cities. The ten largest clusters in computer science, semiconductors, and biology account for 69 percent, 77 percent, and 59 percent of all US inventors, respectively. Using longitudinal data on 109,846 inventors, I find that geographical agglomeration results in significant productivity gains. When an inventor moves to a city with a large cluster of inventors in the same field, she experiences a sizable increase in the number and quality of patents produced. The presence of significant productivity externalities implies that the agglomeration of inventors generates large gains in the aggregate amount of innovation produced in the United States.

Suggested Citation

  • Enrico Moretti, 2021. "The Effect of High-Tech Clusters on the Productivity of Top Inventors," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 111(10), pages 3328-3375, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:111:y:2021:i:10:p:3328-75
    DOI: 10.1257/aer.20191277
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Pauly, Stefan & Stipanicic, Fernando, 2021. "The creation and diffusion of knowledge: Evidence from the Jet Age," CEPREMAP Working Papers (Docweb) 2112, CEPREMAP.
    2. Magnus Henrekson & Anders Kärnä & Tino Sanandaji, 2022. "Schumpeterian entrepreneurship: coveted by policymakers but impervious to top-down policymaking," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 32(3), pages 867-890, July.
    3. Cui, Wenyue & Tang, Jie, 2023. "Innovation convergence clubs and their driving factors within urban agglomeration," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    4. Jorge Guzman & Fiona Murray & Scott Stern & Heidi Williams, 2024. "Accelerating Innovation Ecosystems: The Promise and Challenges of Regional Innovation Engines," Entrepreneurship and Innovation Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 3(1), pages 9-75.
    5. Stansbury, Anna & Turner, Dan & Balls, Ed, 2023. "Tackling the UK's Regional Economic Inequality: Binding Constraints and Avenues for Policy Intervention," SocArXiv d42xq, Center for Open Science.
    6. Zhongxin Ma & Fenglan Wu, 2022. "Smart City, Digitalization and CO 2 Emissions: Evidence from 353 Cities in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-21, December.
    7. Camilla Mastromarco & Laura Serlenga & Yongcheol Shin, 2023. "Regional Productivity Network in the EU," CESifo Working Paper Series 10404, CESifo.
    8. Muniba & Baorong Yu, 2023. "Does Innovative City Pilot Policy Stimulate the Chinese Regional Innovation: An Application of DID Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-21, January.
    9. Esposito, Christopher R., 2023. "The geography of breakthrough invention in the United States over the 20th century," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(7).
    10. Huang, Siyu & Shi, Yi & Chen, Qinghua & Li, Xiaomeng, 2022. "The growth path of high-tech industries: Statistical laws and evolution demands," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 603(C).
    11. Moritz Goldbeck, 2023. "Bit by Bit: Colocation and the Death of Distance in Software Developer Networks," Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series 422, CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition.
    12. Gerten, Elisa & Beckmann, Michael & Kräkel, Matthias, 2022. "Information and Communication Technology, Hierarchy, and Job Design," IZA Discussion Papers 15491, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. MOTOHASHI Kazuyuki & ZHAO Qiuhan, 2023. "University as a Knowledge Source of Innovation: A spatial analysis of the impact on local high-tech startup creation," Discussion papers 23027, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    14. Farhat Chowdhury & Albert N. Link & Martijn Hasselt, 2022. "Public support for research in artificial intelligence: a descriptive study of U.S. Department of Defense SBIR Projects," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 762-774, June.
    15. Yang Shen, 2024. "Future jobs: analyzing the impact of artificial intelligence on employment and its mechanisms," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 1-33, April.
    16. Moritz Goldbeck, 2022. "Bit by Bit - Colocation and the Death of Distance in Software Developer Networks," ifo Working Paper Series 386, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich.
    17. Coad, Alex & Srhoj, Stjepan, 2023. "Entrepreneurial ecosystems and regional persistence of high growth firms: A ‘broken clock’ critique," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(6).
    18. Stefan Pauly & Fernando Stipanicic, 2022. "The Creation and Diffusion of Knowledge: Evidence from the Jet Age," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-04067326, HAL.
    19. Stefan Pauly & Fernando Stipanicic, 2022. "The Creation and Diffusion of Knowledge: Evidence from the Jet Age," Working Papers hal-04067326, HAL.
    20. Milan Zafirovski, 2024. "Distributive justice revisited in a comparative setting: the fairness of wages in OECD countries and modalities of society," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 1-44, January.
    21. Lena Abou El-Komboz & Thomas Fackler, 2023. "Productivity Spillovers among Knowledge Workers in Agglomerations: Evidence from GitHub," Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series 399, CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition.
    22. Abou El-Komboz, Lena & Fackler, Thomas, 2022. "Productivity Spillovers among Knowledge Workers in Agglomerations: Evidence from GitHub," VfS Annual Conference 2022 (Basel): Big Data in Economics 264083, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    23. Basheer Kalash, 2022. "Agglomeration and Technological Specialization," GREDEG Working Papers 2022-04, Groupe de REcherche en Droit, Economie, Gestion (GREDEG CNRS), Université Côte d'Azur, France.
    24. Dai, Lu & Zhang, Jiajun & Luo, Shougui, 2022. "Effective R&D capital and total factor productivity: Evidence using spatial panel data models," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    25. Perl, Maximilian, 2023. "Agglomerations, tasks and wage growth," Ruhr Economic Papers 999, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D62 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Externalities
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • L60 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Manufacturing - - - General
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O34 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Intellectual Property and Intellectual Capital
    • R32 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Real Estate Markets, Spatial Production Analysis, and Firm Location - - - Other Spatial Production and Pricing Analysis

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