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When Distance Disappears: Inventors, Education, and the Locus of Knowledge Spillovers

Author

Listed:
  • Paola Giuri

    (Bologna University)

  • Myriam Mariani

    (Bocconi University)

Abstract

This paper discusses the role of education in shaping the geographical breadth of knowledge spillovers. Data pertaining to 6,051 European inventions reveal that inventors with a high level of education, such as a university or doctoral degree, rely more on external spillovers regardless of the geographical location of their sources. Controlling for this effect, they also access geographically wider knowledge spillovers. This result holds after controlling for alternative explanations, such as the inventors' network and the site where the research is performed. By contributing to individual openness, education thus provides a means to break through geographical barriers to attain knowledge diffusion. © 2013 The President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Suggested Citation

  • Paola Giuri & Myriam Mariani, 2013. "When Distance Disappears: Inventors, Education, and the Locus of Knowledge Spillovers," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(2), pages 449-463, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:restat:v:95:y:2013:i:2:p:449-463
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    Cited by:

    1. Drivas, Kyriakos & Economidou, Claire & Karkalakos, Sotiris & Tsionas, Efthymios G., 2016. "Mobility of knowledge and local innovation activity," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 39-61.
    2. 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).
    3. ONISHI Koichiro & NAGAOKA Sadao, 2018. "How does Graduate Education Affect Inventive Performance? Evidence from undergraduates' choices during recessions," Discussion papers 18016, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    4. Tom Kemeny & Maryann Feldman & Frank Ethridge & Ted Zoller, 2016. "The economic value of local social networks," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 16(5), pages 1101-1122.
    5. Francesco Quatraro & Stefano Usai, 2017. "Are knowledge flows all alike? Evidence from European regions," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(8), pages 1246-1258, August.
    6. Ugo M. Gragnolati & Alessandro Nuvolari, 2023. "Innovation, localized externalities, and the British Industrial Revolution, 1700-1850," LEM Papers Series 2023/26, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    7. Barroso, Alicia & Giarratana, Marco S. & Pasquini, Martina, 2019. "Product portfolio performance in new foreign markets: The EU trademark dual system," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 11-21.
    8. Marco Giarratana & Alessandra Perri, 2014. "Product and Marketing Actions in a Competitive Scenario," Working Papers 30, Venice School of Management - Department of Management, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia.
    9. Fassio, Claudio & Geuna, Aldo & Rossi, Federica, 2023. "‘How do firms reach out to foreign universities? Inventors’ personal characteristics and the multinational structure of firms’," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 58(3).
    10. Bentsen, Kristian Hedeager & Munch, Jakob R. & Schaur, Georg, 2019. "Education spillovers within the workplace," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 57-59.
    11. Francesco Maria Barbini & Marco Corsino & Paola Giuri, 2021. "How do universities shape founding teams? Social proximity and informal mechanisms of knowledge transfer in student entrepreneurship," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 46(4), pages 1046-1082, August.
    12. Koski, Heli & Pajarinen, Mika, 2015. "Mobility of ideas for innovation: The role of inventor-specific knowledge flows," ETLA Working Papers 27, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.
    13. Koski, Heli, 2015. "Commercial success of innovation: the roles of R&D cooperation and firm age," ETLA Working Papers 30, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.
    14. Igna, Ioana A., 2018. "The effects of educational mismatch on inventor productivity. Evidence from Sweden, 2003-2010," Papers in Innovation Studies 2018/8, Lund University, CIRCLE - Centre for Innovation Research.
    15. Koichiro Onishi & Sadao Nagaoka, 2020. "Graduate education and long‐term inventive performance: Evidence from undergraduates' choices during recessions," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 465-491, July.
    16. Qiantao Zhang & Niall G. MacKenzie & Dylan Jones-Evans & Robert Huggins, 2016. "Leveraging knowledge as a competitive asset? The intensity, performance and structure of universities’ entrepreneurial knowledge exchange activities at a regional level," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 657-675, October.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    knowledge spillovers; inventors; geographical proximity; education;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives

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