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Is innovation (increasingly) concentrated in large cities? An international comparison

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  • Fritsch, Michael
  • Wyrwich, Michael

Abstract

There is a widely held belief that agglomeration economies encourage significantly more successful and productive innovation activities. Based on this belief some scholars even suggest that policies designed to stimulate innovation in non-urban areas are ineffective and a waste of resources. Investigating the geographic concentration of patented inventions in 14 developed countries, we find that in most countries patenting is geographically dispersed with considerable shares of patented inventions in areas other than large cities. South Korea and the US are two extreme outliers where patenting is highly concentrated in some large cities. Also, there is no general tendency that inventors in large cities are more productive, in terms of filing patents, when compared to inventors in rural areas. We conclude that while the agglomeration economies found in large cities may offer advantages for innovation activities, the extent of these advantages is not significant, and popular theories overemphasize the importance of large cities for innovation activities.

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  • Fritsch, Michael & Wyrwich, Michael, 2021. "Is innovation (increasingly) concentrated in large cities? An international comparison," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(6).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:respol:v:50:y:2021:i:6:s004873332100041x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2021.104237
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    Cited by:

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    3. Eva Coll‐Martínez & Elisenda Jové‐Llopis & Mercedes Teruel, 2022. "The city of start‐ups: Location determinants of start‐ups in emergent industries in Barcelona," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(2), pages 972-1007, June.
    4. Ron Boschma, 2021. "Designing Smart Specialization Policy: relatedness, unrelatedness, or what?," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 2128, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Sep 2021.
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    6. Ron Boschma & Ernest Miguélez & Rosina Moreno & Diego B. Ocampo-Corrales, 2021. "Technological breakthroughs in European regions: the role of related and unrelated combinations," Bordeaux Economics Working Papers 2021-10, Bordeaux School of Economics (BSE).
    7. Andrés Rodríguez‐Pose & Jamie Griffiths, 2021. "Developing intermediate cities," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(3), pages 441-456, June.
    8. Grillitsch, Markus & Sotarauta, Markku & Asheim, Björn & Fitjar, Rune Dahl & Haus-Reve, Silje & Kolehmainen, Jari & Kurikka, Heli & Lundquist, Karl-Johan & Martynovich, Mikhail & Monteilhet, Skirmante, 2022. "Agency and Economic Change in Regions: Using Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) to identify Routes to New Path Development," Papers in Innovation Studies 2022/5, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    9. Martin Andersson & Johan E. Eklund & Alexandra Tsvetkova, 2023. "Spatial variations in financial constraints of SMEs—evidence from firm-level estimates of investment-cash flow sensitivities in Sweden," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 60(4), pages 1683-1698, April.
    10. Tavassoli, Sam & Obschonka, Martin & Audretsch, David B., 2021. "Entrepreneurship in Cities," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(7).
    11. Patrycjusz Zarębski & Małgorzata Czerwińska-Jaśkiewicz & Maria Klonowska-Matynia, 2022. "Innovation in Peripheral Regions from a Multidimensional Perspective: Evidence from the Middle Pomerania Region in Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-18, July.
    12. Rhoden, Imke, 2020. "Innovating in Krugman’s Footsteps – Where and How Innovation Differs in Europe: Static Innovation Indicators for Identifying Regional Policy Leverages," EconStor Preprints 218875, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    13. Carlos Bianchi & Pablo Galaso & Sergio Palomeque, 2023. "Knowledge complexity and brokerage in inter-city networks," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 48(5), pages 1773-1799, October.
    14. Doloreux, David & Shearmur, Richard, 2023. "Does location matter? STI and DUI innovation modes in different geographic settings," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    15. Henriette Ruhrmann & Michael Fritsch & Loet Leydesdorff, 2020. "Smart Specialization Strategies at National, Regional, or Local Levels? Synergy and Policy-making in German Systems of Innovation," Jena Economics Research Papers 2020-007, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    16. Dariusz Maslowski & Ewa Kulinska, 2020. "The Method to Compare Cities to Effective Management of Innovative Solutions," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(Special 1), pages 309-322.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Innovation; Patents; Cities; Urban scaling; Creativity; JEL-classification:; 031; R12; O57;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • R12 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity; Interregional Trade (economic geography)
    • O57 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Comparative Studies of Countries

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