The Geography of Social Connectedness and Knowledge Flows in the United States: New Evidence from Patent Citations
Event details
| Date | 06.07.2020 |
| Hour | 17:00 |
| Speaker | Andreas Diemer (LSE) |
| Location |
Zoom
|
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
Andreas Diemer (LSE)
"The Geography of Social Connectedness and Knowledge Flows in the United States: New Evidence from Patent Citations" (video)
Discussant: Adam Jaffe (MIT/Brandeis)
Abstract
Do informal social ties connecting inventors across distant places promote knowledge flows between them? Our focus is on transfers of knowledge captured by patent citations. To measure informal ties, we use a direct and broad index of social connectedness of regions. We thus improve on previous studies that rely on indirect measures to infer this relationship. Moreover, we isolate the specific effect of informal connections, above and beyond formal ties (co-inventor networks) and plain geographic proximity. Our identification strategy relies on matching inventor citations with citations from examiners, whose own social geography is orthogonal to the inventor’s on the same patent. We identify a small but significant and robust effect of informal ties on patent citation. Two counties at the 75th percentile of social connectedness are on average 1.2 percentage points more likely to cite one another than a pair of counties at the 25th percentile. We also show that the relevance of informal social ties has increased in time. Further, effects appear to be stronger for entrepreneurs and garage inventors, for patents that are common domain in a geographical sense, and for distant technologies.
Keywords: Knowledge flows; Diffusion; Social connectedness; Networks.
EPFL Virtual Innovation Seminar
EVIS is a bi-weekly virtual seminar series focusing on Science, Technology and Innovation topics studied through the lens of Economics, Entrepreneurship, Strategy and Finance.
"The Geography of Social Connectedness and Knowledge Flows in the United States: New Evidence from Patent Citations" (video)
Discussant: Adam Jaffe (MIT/Brandeis)
Abstract
Do informal social ties connecting inventors across distant places promote knowledge flows between them? Our focus is on transfers of knowledge captured by patent citations. To measure informal ties, we use a direct and broad index of social connectedness of regions. We thus improve on previous studies that rely on indirect measures to infer this relationship. Moreover, we isolate the specific effect of informal connections, above and beyond formal ties (co-inventor networks) and plain geographic proximity. Our identification strategy relies on matching inventor citations with citations from examiners, whose own social geography is orthogonal to the inventor’s on the same patent. We identify a small but significant and robust effect of informal ties on patent citation. Two counties at the 75th percentile of social connectedness are on average 1.2 percentage points more likely to cite one another than a pair of counties at the 25th percentile. We also show that the relevance of informal social ties has increased in time. Further, effects appear to be stronger for entrepreneurs and garage inventors, for patents that are common domain in a geographical sense, and for distant technologies.
Keywords: Knowledge flows; Diffusion; Social connectedness; Networks.
EPFL Virtual Innovation Seminar
EVIS is a bi-weekly virtual seminar series focusing on Science, Technology and Innovation topics studied through the lens of Economics, Entrepreneurship, Strategy and Finance.
Practical information
- General public
- Free