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The role of geographical proximity in knowledge diffusion, measured by citations to scientific literature

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  • Abramo, Giovanni
  • D’Angelo, Ciriaco Andrea
  • Di Costa, Flavia

Abstract

This paper analyses the influence of geographic distance on knowledge flows, measured through citations to scientific publications. Previous works using the same approach are limited to single disciplines. In this study, we analyse the Italian scientific production in all disciplines matured in the period 2010–2012. To calculate the geographic distances between citing and cited publications, each one is associated with a “prevalent” territory on the basis of the authors’ affiliations. The results of the application of a gravity model, estimated using ordinary least squares regression, show that despite the spread of IT, geographic distance continues to be an influential factor in the process of knowledge flows between territories. In particular, the analysis reveals that the effect of geographic distance on knowledge flows is significant at the national level, not negligible at the continental level, but completely irrelevant at the intercontinental level.

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  • Abramo, Giovanni & D’Angelo, Ciriaco Andrea & Di Costa, Flavia, 2020. "The role of geographical proximity in knowledge diffusion, measured by citations to scientific literature," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 14(1).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:infome:v:14:y:2020:i:1:s1751157719303347
    DOI: 10.1016/j.joi.2020.101010
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    2. Abramo, Giovanni & D’Angelo, Ciriaco Andrea & Di Costa, Flavia, 2021. "On the relation between the degree of internationalization of cited and citing publications: A field level analysis, including and excluding self-citations," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 15(1).
    3. Anna Varga-Csajkás & Tamás Sebestyén & Attila Varga, 2023. "Dynamics of collaboration among high-growth firms: results from an agent-based policy simulation," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 70(2), pages 353-377, April.
    4. Giovanni Abramo & Ciriaco Andrea D’Angelo, 2021. "A bibliometric methodology to unveil territorial inequities in the scientific wealth to combat COVID-19," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(8), pages 6601-6624, August.
    5. Abramo, Giovanni & D’Angelo, Ciriaco Andrea & Di Costa, Flavia, 2020. "Knowledge spillovers: Does the geographic proximity effect decay over time? A discipline-level analysis, accounting for cognitive proximity, with and without self-citations," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 14(4).
    6. Abdelghani Maddi & Lesya Baudoin, 2022. "The quality of the web of science data: a longitudinal study on the completeness of authors-addresses links," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(11), pages 6279-6292, November.
    7. Giovanni Abramo & Ciriaco Andrea D’Angelo & Flavia Costa, 2020. "Does the geographic proximity effect on knowledge spillovers vary across research fields?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 123(2), pages 1021-1036, May.
    8. Giovanni Abramo & Francesca Apponi & Ciriaco Andrea D'Angelo, 2022. "The geographic proximity effect on domestic cross-sector vis-a-vis intra-sector research collaborations," Papers 2202.10347, arXiv.org.
    9. Jiuling Xiao & Yuting Bao & Jiankang Wang, 2023. "Which neighbor is more conducive to innovation? The moderating effect of partners’ innovation," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 48(1), pages 33-67, February.
    10. Giovanni Abramo & Ciriaco Andrea D’Angelo, 2020. "The domestic localization of knowledge flows as evidenced by publication citation: the case of Italy," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 125(2), pages 1305-1329, November.
    11. Giovanni Abramo & Francesca Apponi & Ciriaco Andrea D’Angelo, 2022. "The geographic proximity effect on domestic cross-sector vis-à-vis intra-sector research collaborations," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(6), pages 3505-3521, June.

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