Connecting innovation poles with lagging territories: how do collaborations with Europe and Asia influence innovation in Latin American cities?

This chapter analyzes how the connections with Europe, Asia and North America influence innovation processes in Latin American cities. Using patent data from the USPTO between 2006 and 2017, we identify the top patenting 31 Latin American cities, and study their local collaboration networks and their connections to global networks, differentiating between links with Europe, East Asia and North America. We estimate panel data models to analyze the influence of local and global networks on innovation in Latin American cities. The results show that links to Europe and North America have a stronger effect on innovation in Latin American cities than connections to Asia. We also find that these effects depend substantially on local network structures: while collaborations with Europe are beneficial for centralized and expanded local networks, links with North America are positive for decentralized and cohesive networks. These findings have implications for future research and policy on innovation networks, indicating the relevance of analyzing not only the interaction between local and global networks, but also the direction in which external linkages are established.