IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/scient/v106y2016i3d10.1007_s11192-015-1819-8.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Proximity dimensions and scientific collaboration among academic institutions in Europe: The closer, the better?

Author

Listed:
  • A. Fernández

    (University of Cadiz)

  • E. Ferrándiz

    (University of Cadiz)

  • M. D. León

    (University of Cadiz)

Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to examine the effect of various proximity dimensions (geographical, cognitive, institutional, organizational, social and economic) on academic scientific collaborations (SC). The data to capture SC consists of a set of co-authored articles published between 2006 and 2010 by universities located in EU-15, indexed by the Science Citation Index (SCI Expanded) of the ISI Web of Science database. We link this data to institution-level information provided by the EUMIDA dataset. Our final sample consists of 240,495 co-authored articles from 690 European universities that featured in both datasets. Additionally, we also retrieved data on regional R&D funding from Eurostat. Based on the gravital equation, we estimate several econometrics models using aggregated data from all disciplines as well as separated data for Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Life Sciences and Physics and Astronomy. Our results provide evidence on the substantial role of geographical, cognitive, institutional, social and economic distance in shaping scientific collaboration, while the effect of organizational proximity seems to be weaker. Some differences on the relevance of these factors arise at discipline level.

Suggested Citation

  • A. Fernández & E. Ferrándiz & M. D. León, 2016. "Proximity dimensions and scientific collaboration among academic institutions in Europe: The closer, the better?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 106(3), pages 1073-1092, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:106:y:2016:i:3:d:10.1007_s11192-015-1819-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-015-1819-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11192-015-1819-8
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11192-015-1819-8?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cameron,A. Colin & Trivedi,Pravin K., 2013. "Regression Analysis of Count Data," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107014169.
    2. Christophe Carrincazeaux & Yannick Lung & Jérôme Vicente, 2007. "The Scientific Trajectory of the French School of Proximity: Interaction- and Institution-based Approaches to Regional Innovation Systems," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(5), pages 617-628, December.
    3. Christophe Carrincazeaux & Yannick Lung & Jérôme Vicente, 2007. "The Scientific Trajectory of the French School of Proximity: Interaction- and Institution-based Approaches to Regional Innovation Systems," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(5), pages 617-628, December.
    4. Pieter W. Heringa & Edwin Horlings & Mariëlle van der Zouwen & Peter van den Besselaar & Wim van Vierssen, 2014. "How do dimensions of proximity relate to the outcomes of collaboration? A survey of knowledge-intensive networks in the Dutch water sector," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(7), pages 689-716, October.
    5. Lakitan, Benyamin & Hidayat, Dudi & Herlinda, Siti, 2012. "Scientific productivity and the collaboration intensity of Indonesian universities and public R&D institutions: Are there dependencies on collaborative R&D with foreign institutions?," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 227-238.
    6. Jarno Hoekman & Koen Frenken & Frank Oort, 2009. "The geography of collaborative knowledge production in Europe," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 43(3), pages 721-738, September.
    7. Gilsing, Victor & Nooteboom, Bart & Vanhaverbeke, Wim & Duysters, Geert & van den Oord, Ad, 2008. "Network embeddedness and the exploration of novel technologies: Technological distance, betweenness centrality and density," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(10), pages 1717-1731, December.
    8. Ali Gazni & Cassidy R. Sugimoto & Fereshteh Didegah, 2012. "Mapping world scientific collaboration: Authors, institutions, and countries," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 63(2), pages 323-335, February.
    9. Ali Gazni & Cassidy R. Sugimoto & Fereshteh Didegah, 2012. "Mapping world scientific collaboration: Authors, institutions, and countries," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 63(2), pages 323-335, February.
    10. Laura Abramovsky & Rupert Harrison & Helen Simpson, 2007. "University Research and the Location of Business R&D," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 117(519), pages 114-141, March.
    11. Raffaele Paci & Emanuela Marrocu & Stefano Usai, 2014. "The Complementary Effects of Proximity Dimensions on Knowledge Spillovers," Spatial Economic Analysis, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 9(1), pages 9-30, March.
    12. Hoekman, Jarno & Frenken, Koen & Tijssen, Robert J.W., 2010. "Research collaboration at a distance: Changing spatial patterns of scientific collaboration within Europe," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(5), pages 662-673, June.
    13. Costantini, Valeria & Mazzanti, Massimiliano, 2012. "On the green and innovative side of trade competitiveness? The impact of environmental policies and innovation on EU exports," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 132-153.
    14. Manuel Acosta & Daniel Coronado & Esther Flores, 2011. "University spillovers and new business location in high-technology sectors: Spanish evidence," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 36(3), pages 365-376, April.
    15. Ron Boschma & Koen Frenken, 2009. "Some Notes on Institutions in Evolutionary Economic Geography," Economic Geography, Clark University, vol. 85(2), pages 151-158, April.
    16. Roderik Ponds & Frank Van Oort & Koen Frenken, 2007. "The geographical and institutional proximity of research collaboration," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 86(3), pages 423-443, August.
    17. Audretsch, David B. & Lehmann, Erik E. & Warning, Susanne, 2005. "University spillovers and new firm location," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(7), pages 1113-1122, September.
    18. Raffaele Paci & Stefano Usai, 2009. "Knowledge flows across European regions," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 43(3), pages 669-690, September.
    19. Nooteboom, Bart & Van Haverbeke, Wim & Duysters, Geert & Gilsing, Victor & van den Oord, Ad, 2007. "Optimal cognitive distance and absorptive capacity," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(7), pages 1016-1034, September.
    20. Franceschet, Massimo & Costantini, Antonio, 2010. "The effect of scholar collaboration on impact and quality of academic papers," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 4(4), pages 540-553.
    21. Grit Laudel, 2002. "What do we measure by co-authorships?," Research Evaluation, Oxford University Press, vol. 11(1), pages 3-15, April.
    22. Katz, J. Sylvan & Martin, Ben R., 1997. "What is research collaboration?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 1-18, March.
    23. Manuel Acosta & Daniel Coronado & Esther Ferrándiz & M. Dolores León, 2011. "Factors affecting inter-regional academic scientific collaboration within Europe: the role of economic distance," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 87(1), pages 63-74, April.
    24. Hong, Wei & Su, Yu-Sung, 2013. "The effect of institutional proximity in non-local university–industry collaborations: An analysis based on Chinese patent data," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 454-464.
    25. Mario Maggioni & Teodora Uberti, 2009. "Knowledge networks across Europe: which distance matters?," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 43(3), pages 691-720, September.
    26. Hennemann, Stefan & Rybski, Diego & Liefner, Ingo, 2012. "The myth of global science collaboration—Collaboration patterns in epistemic communities," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 6(2), pages 217-225.
    27. Torben Schubert & Radhamany Sooryamoorthy, 2010. "Can the centre–periphery model explain patterns of international scientific collaboration among threshold and industrialised countries? The case of South Africa and Germany," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 83(1), pages 181-203, April.
    28. Tatiana Plotnikova & Bastian Rake, 2014. "Collaboration in pharmaceutical research: exploration of country-level determinants," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 98(2), pages 1173-1202, February.
    29. Takao Furukawa & Nobuyuki Shirakawa & Kumi Okuwada, 2011. "Quantitative analysis of collaborative and mobility networks," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 87(3), pages 451-466, June.
    30. Scellato, Giuseppe & Franzoni, Chiara & Stephan, Paula, 2015. "Migrant scientists and international networks," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(1), pages 108-120.
    31. Frenken, Koen & Hardeman, Sjoerd & Hoekman, Jarno, 2009. "Spatial scientometrics: Towards a cumulative research program," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 3(3), pages 222-232.
    32. Manuel Acosta & Daniel Coronado & Esther Ferrándiz & M. Dolores León, 2014. "Regional Scientific Production and Specialization in Europe: The Role of HERD," European Planning Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(5), pages 949-974, May.
    33. Yukiko Murakami, 2014. "Influences of return migration on international collaborative research networks: cases of Japanese scientists returning from the US," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 39(4), pages 616-634, August.
    34. Andr Torre Shaw & Jean-Pierre Gilly, 2000. "On the Analytical Dimension of Proximity Dynamics," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(2), pages 169-180.
    35. Ron Boschma, 2005. "Proximity and Innovation: A Critical Assessment," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(1), pages 61-74.
    36. Waltman, Ludo & Tijssen, Robert J.W. & Eck, Nees Jan van, 2011. "Globalisation of science in kilometres," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 5(4), pages 574-582.
    37. Cameron,A. Colin & Trivedi,Pravin K., 2013. "Regression Analysis of Count Data," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107667273.
    38. Bassem Kahouli & Samir Maktouf, 2015. "Trade creation and diversion effects in the Mediterranean area: Econometric analysis by gravity model," The Journal of International Trade & Economic Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(1), pages 76-104, February.
    39. Cummings, Jonathon N. & Kiesler, Sara, 2007. "Coordination costs and project outcomes in multi-university collaborations," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 1620-1634, December.
    40. Koen Jonkers & Robert Tijssen, 2008. "Chinese researchers returning home: Impacts of international mobility on research collaboration and scientific productivity," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 77(2), pages 309-333, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Vieira, Elizabeth S. & Cerdeira, Jorge & Teixeira, Aurora A.C., 2022. "Which distance dimensions matter in international research collaboration? A cross-country analysis by scientific domain," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 16(2).
    2. Qingzhou Luo & Jianhong Cecilia Xia & Gaby Haddow & Michele Willson & Jun Yang, 2018. "Does distance hinder the collaboration between Australian universities in the humanities, arts and social sciences?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 115(2), pages 695-715, May.
    3. Marton Demeter, 2022. "Development Studies in the World System of Global Knowledge Production: A Critical Empirical Analysis," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 22(3), pages 239-256, July.
    4. Chaocheng He & Jiang Wu & Qingpeng Zhang, 2021. "Characterizing research leadership on geographically weighted collaboration network," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(5), pages 4005-4037, May.
    5. Chaocheng He & Jiang Wu & Qingpeng Zhang, 2022. "Proximity‐aware research leadership recommendation in research collaboration via deep neural networks," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 73(1), pages 70-89, January.
    6. He, Chaocheng & Liu, Fuzhen & Dong, Ke & Wu, Jiang & Zhang, Qingpeng, 2023. "Research on the formation mechanism of research leadership relations: An exponential random graph model analysis approach," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 17(2).
    7. Jorge Cerdeira & João Mesquita & Elizabeth S. Vieira, 2023. "International research collaboration: is Africa different? A cross-country panel data analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(4), pages 2145-2174, April.

    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. Ana Fernández & Esther Ferrándiz & M. Dolores León, 2021. "Are organizational and economic proximity driving factors of scientific collaboration? Evidence from Spanish universities, 2001–2010," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(1), pages 579-602, January.
    2. Chen, Kaihua & Zhang, Yi & Fu, Xiaolan, 2019. "International research collaboration: An emerging domain of innovation studies?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 149-168.
    3. Chin-Chang Tsai & Elizabeth A. Corley & Barry Bozeman, 2016. "Collaboration experiences across scientific disciplines and cohorts," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 108(2), pages 505-529, August.
    4. Chaocheng He & Jiang Wu & Qingpeng Zhang, 2020. "Research leadership flow determinants and the role of proximity in research collaborations," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 71(11), pages 1341-1356, November.
    5. Qingzhou Luo & Jianhong Cecilia Xia & Gaby Haddow & Michele Willson & Jun Yang, 2018. "Does distance hinder the collaboration between Australian universities in the humanities, arts and social sciences?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 115(2), pages 695-715, May.
    6. Tatiana Plotnikova & Bastian Rake, 2014. "Collaboration in pharmaceutical research: exploration of country-level determinants," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 98(2), pages 1173-1202, February.
    7. Pierre-Alexandre Balland & Ron Boschma & Koen Frenken, 2015. "Proximity and Innovation: From Statics to Dynamics," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(6), pages 907-920, June.
    8. Jorge Cerdeira & João Mesquita & Elizabeth S. Vieira, 2023. "International research collaboration: is Africa different? A cross-country panel data analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(4), pages 2145-2174, April.
    9. Laurent R. Bergé, 2017. "Network proximity in the geography of research collaboration," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 96(4), pages 785-815, November.
    10. Graf, Holger & Kalthaus, Martin, 2018. "International research networks: Determinants of country embeddedness," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(7), pages 1198-1214.
    11. Teemu Makkonen & Timo Mitze, 2016. "Scientific collaboration between ‘old’ and ‘new’ member states: Did joining the European Union make a difference?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 106(3), pages 1193-1215, March.
    12. Christian Omobhude & Shih-Hsin Chen, 2019. "The Roles and Measurements of Proximity in Sustained Technology Development: A Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-30, January.
    13. Iris Wanzenböck & Thomas Scherngell & Thomas Brenner, 2014. "Embeddedness of regions in European knowledge networks: a comparative analysis of inter-regional R&D collaborations, co-patents and co-publications," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 53(2), pages 337-368, September.
    14. Mario Maggioni & Teodora Uberti & Mario Nosvelli, 2014. "Does intentional mean hierarchical? Knowledge flows and innovative performance of European regions," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 53(2), pages 453-485, September.
    15. Jarno Hoekman & Koen Frenken, 2013. "Proximity and Stratification in European Scientific Research Collaboration Networks: A Policy Perspective," Advances in Spatial Science, in: Thomas Scherngell (ed.), The Geography of Networks and R&D Collaborations, edition 127, chapter 0, pages 263-277, Springer.
    16. Ernest Miguélez & Rosina Moreno, 2013. "Do Labour Mobility and Technological Collaborations Foster Geographical Knowledge Diffusion? The Case of European Regions," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(2), pages 321-354, June.
    17. Ferretti, Marco & Guerini, Massimiliano & Panetti, Eva & Parmentola, Adele, 2022. "The partner next door? The effect of micro-geographical proximity on intra-cluster inter-organizational relationships," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    18. Chaocheng He & Jiang Wu & Qingpeng Zhang, 2021. "Characterizing research leadership on geographically weighted collaboration network," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(5), pages 4005-4037, May.
    19. Ali Sina Önder & Sascha Schweitzer & Hakan Yilmazkuday, 2021. "Field Distance and Quality in Economists’ Collaborations," Working Papers in Economics & Finance 2021-04, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth Business School, Economics and Finance Subject Group.
    20. Jyoti Dua & Hiran H. Lathabai & Vivek Kumar Singh, 2023. "Measuring and characterizing research collaboration in SAARC countries," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(2), pages 1265-1294, February.

    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:spr:scient:v:106:y:2016:i:3:d:10.1007_s11192-015-1819-8. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.