2007/26 | LEM Working Paper Series | |
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Inventors and the Geographical Breadth of Knowledge spillovers |
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Paola Giuri and Myriam Mariani |
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Abstract | ||
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This paper studies the geographical breadth of knowledge
spillovers. Previous research suggests that knowledge spillovers
benefit from geographical proximity in technologically active and rich
regions more than elsewhere. An alternative view explains the
geographical breadth of knowledge spillovers as a function of the
characteristics and personal networks of the individuals. We test
these two competing theories by using information provided directly by
the inventors of 6,750 European patents (PatVal-EU survey). Our
results confirm the importance of inventors' personal
background. However, compared to previous research, we find that the
level of education of the inventors is key in shaping the geographical
breadth of knowledge spillovers. Highly educated inventors rely more
on geographically wide research networks than their less educated
peers. This holds after controlling for the mobility of the inventors
and for the scientific nature of the research performed. Differently,
location matters only in the very rare regions in Europe that perform
the bulk of the research in the specific discipline of the inventors.
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