IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/jrp/jrpwrp/2020-003.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

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

Author

Listed:
  • Michael Fritsch

    (Friedrich Schiller University Jena and Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH), Germany.)

  • Michael Wyrwich

    (University of Groningen, The Netherlands and Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany.)

Abstract

We investigate the geographic concentration of patenting in large cities using a sample of 14 developed countries. There is wide dispersion of the share of patented inventions in large metropolitan areas. South Korea and the US are two extreme outliers where patenting is highly concentrated in large cities. We do not find any general trend that there is a geographic concentration of patents for the period 2000-2014. There is also no general trend that inventors in large cities have more patents than in rural areas (scaling). Hence, while agglomeration economies of large cities may offer advantages for innovation activities, the extent of these advantages is not very large. We conclude that popular theories over-emphasize the importance of large cities for innovation activities.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Fritsch & Michael Wyrwich, 2020. "Is innovation (increasingly) concentrated in large cities? An international comparison," Jena Economics Research Papers 2020-003, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    • Handle: RePEc:jrp:jrpwrp:2020-003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://oweb.b67.uni-jena.de/Papers/jerp2020/wp_2020_003.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michael Storper & Anthony J. Venables, 2004. "Buzz: face-to-face contact and the urban economy," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 4(4), pages 351-370, August.
    2. Bettencourt, Luis M.A. & Lobo, Jose & Strumsky, Deborah, 2007. "Invention in the city: Increasing returns to patenting as a scaling function of metropolitan size," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 107-120, February.
    3. Ciccone, Antonio & Hall, Robert E, 1996. "Productivity and the Density of Economic Activity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(1), pages 54-70, March.
    4. Nagaoka, Sadao & Motohashi, Kazuyuki & Goto, Akira, 2010. "Patent Statistics as an Innovation Indicator," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 1083-1127, Elsevier.
    5. Riccardo Crescenzi & Andrés Rodriguez-Pose & Michael Storper, 2007. "The territorial dynamics of innovation: a Europe-United States comparative analysis," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 7(6), pages 673-709, November.
    6. Diego Puga, 2010. "The Magnitude And Causes Of Agglomeration Economies," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1), pages 203-219, February.
    7. Markus Grillitsch & Magnus Nilsson, 2015. "Innovation in peripheral regions: Do collaborations compensate for a lack of local knowledge spillovers?," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 54(1), pages 299-321, January.
    8. Rune Dahl Fitjar & Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, 2017. "Nothing is in the Air," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1), pages 22-39, March.
    9. Duranton, Gilles & Puga, Diego, 2014. "The Growth of Cities," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 5, pages 781-853, Elsevier.
    10. Zvi Griliches, 1998. "Patent Statistics as Economic Indicators: A Survey," NBER Chapters, in: R&D and Productivity: The Econometric Evidence, pages 287-343, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Giulia Faggio & Olmo Silva & William C Strange, 2020. "Tales of the city: what do agglomeration cases tell us about agglomeration in general? [The anchor tenant hypothesis: exploring the role of large, local, R&D-intensive firms in regional innovation ," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 20(5), pages 1117-1143.
    12. Gautam Ahuja & Curba Morris Lampert, 2001. "Entrepreneurship in the large corporation: a longitudinal study of how established firms create breakthrough inventions," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(6‐7), pages 521-543, June.
    13. Moretti, Enrico, 2019. "The Effect of High-Tech Clusters on the Productivity of Top Inventors," CEPR Discussion Papers 13992, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    14. Feldman, Maryann P. & Kogler, Dieter F., 2010. "Stylized Facts in the Geography of Innovation," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, in: Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 0, pages 381-410, Elsevier.
    15. Edward L. Glaeser & Naomi Hausman, 2019. "The Spatial Mismatch between Innovation and Joblessness," NBER Chapters, in: Innovation Policy and the Economy, Volume 20, pages 233-299, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Winter, Sidney G., 1984. "Schumpeterian competition in alternative technological regimes," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 5(3-4), pages 287-320.
    17. repec:bof:bofrdp:urn:nbn:fi:bof-201512111472 is not listed on IDEAS
    18. Andres Gomez-Lievano & Oscar Patterson-Lomba & Ricardo Hausmann, 2017. "Explaining the prevalence, scaling and variance of urban phenomena," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 1(1), pages 1-6, January.
    19. Philip McCann & Raquel Ortega-Argil�s, 2015. "Smart Specialization, Regional Growth and Applications to European Union Cohesion Policy," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(8), pages 1291-1302, August.
    20. Richard Shearmur, 2011. "Innovation, Regions and Proximity: From Neo-Regionalism to Spatial Analysis," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(9), pages 1225-1243, February.
    21. Faberman, R. Jason & Freedman, Matthew, 2016. "The urban density premium across establishments," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 71-84.
    22. Wesley M. Cohen & Richard R. Nelson & John P. Walsh, 2000. "Protecting Their Intellectual Assets: Appropriability Conditions and Why U.S. Manufacturing Firms Patent (or Not)," NBER Working Papers 7552, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    23. repec:fth:harver:1473 is not listed on IDEAS
    24. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2015_027 is not listed on IDEAS
    25. Dietmar Harhoff & Francis Narin & F. M. Scherer & Katrin Vopel, 1999. "Citation Frequency And The Value Of Patented Inventions," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 81(3), pages 511-515, August.
    26. David B. Audretsch, 1995. "Innovation and Industry Evolution," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262011468, December.
    27. Blind, Knut & Edler, Jakob & Frietsch, Rainer & Schmoch, Ulrich, 2006. "Motives to patent: Empirical evidence from Germany," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 655-672, June.
    28. 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.
    29. Harhoff, Dietmar & Scherer, Frederic M. & Vopel, Katrin, 2003. "Citations, family size, opposition and the value of patent rights," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(8), pages 1343-1363, September.
    30. Philip McCann & Attila Varga, 2015. "The Reforms to the Regional and Urban Policy of the European Union: EU Cohesion Policy," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(8), pages 1255-1257, August.
    31. Caroline Paunov & Dominique Guellec & Nevine El-Mallakh & Sandra Planes-Satorra & Lukas Nüse, 2019. "On the concentration of innovation in top cities in the digital age," OECD Science, Technology and Industry Policy Papers 85, OECD Publishing.
    32. Richard Florida & Patrick Adler & Charlotta Mellander, 2017. "The city as innovation machine," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(1), pages 86-96, January.
    33. Riccardo Crescenzi & Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, 2013. "R&D, Socio-Economic Conditions, and Regional Innovation in the U.S," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(2), pages 287-320, June.
    34. Scott Shane, 2001. "Technological Opportunities and New Firm Creation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 47(2), pages 205-220, February.
    35. Philip McCann, 2015. "The Regional and Urban Policy of the European Union," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 16000, December.
    36. repec:zbw:bofrdp:urn:nbn:fi:bof-201512111472 is not listed on IDEAS
    37. Bronwyn H. Hall & Nathan Rosenberg (ed.), 2010. "Handbook of the Economics of Innovation," Handbook of the Economics of Innovation, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 1, number 1.
    38. Stéphane Maraut & Hélène Dernis & Colin Webb & Vincenzo Spiezia & Dominique Guellec, 2008. "The OECD REGPAT Database: A Presentation," OECD Science, Technology and Industry Working Papers 2008/2, OECD Publishing.
    39. 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.
    40. Helsley, Robert W. & Strange, William C., 2002. "Innovation and Input Sharing," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 25-45, January.
    41. Ron Boschma, 2005. "Proximity and Innovation: A Critical Assessment," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(1), pages 61-74.
    42. 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.
    43. Giulia Faggio & Olmo Silva & William C Strange, 0. "Tales of the city: what do agglomeration cases tell us about agglomeration in general?," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 20(5), pages 1117-1143.
    44. Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), 2015. "Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 5, number 5.
    45. Mariagrazia Squicciarini & Hélène Dernis & Chiara Criscuolo, 2013. "Measuring Patent Quality: Indicators of Technological and Economic Value," OECD Science, Technology and Industry Working Papers 2013/3, OECD Publishing.
    46. Michael Fritsch & Viktor Slavtchev, 2011. "Determinants of the Efficiency of Regional Innovation Systems," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(7), pages 905-918.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Riccardo Crescenzi & Alexander Jaax, 2017. "Innovation in Russia: The Territorial Dimension," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 93(1), pages 66-88, January.
    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. Martin Kalthaus, 2020. "Knowledge recombination along the technology life cycle," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 30(3), pages 643-704, July.
    4. Pardy, Martina, 2025. "Multinationals and intra-regional innovation concentration," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 127983, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Tubiana, Matteo & Miguelez, Ernest & Moreno, Rosina, 2022. "In knowledge we trust: Learning-by-interacting and the productivity of inventors," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(1).
    6. Gerald A. Carlino & Robert M. Hunt, 2009. "What explains the quantity and quality of local inventive activity?," Working Papers 09-12, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
    7. Pfister, Curdin & Koomen, Miriam & Harhoff, Dietmar & Backes-Gellner, Uschi, 2021. "Regional innovation effects of applied research institutions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(4).
    8. 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.
    9. Annekatrin Niebuhr & Jan Cornelius Peters & Alex Schmidke, 2020. "Spatial sorting of innovative firms and heterogeneous effects of agglomeration on innovation in Germany," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 45(5), pages 1343-1375, October.
    10. repec:bof:bofrdp:urn:nbn:fi:bof-201512111472 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. repec:zbw:bofrdp:urn:nbn:fi:bof-201512111472 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Michael Fritsch & Mirko Titze & Matthias Piontek, 2018. "Knowledge Interactions in Regional Innovation Networks: Comparing Data Sources," Jena Economics Research Papers 2018-003, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    13. Josef Taalbi & Mikhail Martynovich, 2024. "On the urban bias of patents and the scaling of innovation," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 2422, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Jul 2024.
    14. Qin, Xionghe & Wang, Xueli & Kwan, Mei-Po, 2023. "The contrasting effects of interregional networks and local agglomeration on R&D productivity in Chinese provinces: Insights from an empirical spatial Durbin model," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    15. 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.
    16. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2015_027 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Zafer Sonmez, 2018. "Interregional inventor collaboration and the commercial value of patented inventions: evidence from the US biotechnology industry," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 61(2), pages 399-438, September.
    18. Marte C.W. Solheim & Ron Boschma & Sverre Herstad, 2018. "Related variety, unrelated variety and the novelty content of firm innovation in urban and non-urban locations," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 1836, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Oct 2018.
    19. Tobias Schlegel & Curdin Pfister & Dietmar Harhoff & Uschi Backes-Gellner, 2022. "Innovation effects of universities of applied sciences: an assessment of regional heterogeneity," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 47(1), pages 63-118, February.
    20. Olof Ejermo & Katrin Hussinger & Basheer Kalash & Torben Schubert, 2022. "Innovation in Malmö after the Öresund Bridge," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 62(1), pages 5-20, January.
    21. Gilles Duranton & William R. Kerr, 2015. "The Logic of Agglomeration," Harvard Business School Working Papers 16-037, Harvard Business School.
    22. Michael Fritsch & Mirko Titze & Matthias Piontek, 2020. "Identifying cooperation for innovation―a comparison of data sources," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(6), pages 630-659, June.
    23. Federica Bianco & Marica Venezia, 2019. "Features of R&D Teams and Innovation Performances of Sustainable Firms: Evidence from the “Sustainability Pioneers” in the IT Hardware Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(17), pages 1-19, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Innovation; patents; cities; urban scaling; creativity;
    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

    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:jrp:jrpwrp:2020-003. 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: Markus Pasche (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.jenecon.de .

    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.