Padrões De Colaboração Científica No Brasil: O Espaço Importa?

Recent years have witnessed an accelerated growth of Brazilian scientific production that was accompanied by an expansion of domestic research collaboration. In this paper we look more closely at this issue in an attempt to identify spatial patterns of research collaboration in Brazil, and to measure the role of geographical proximity in determining interaction between Brazilian researchers. Using a unique database comprised of over one million researchers registered in the Brazilian Lattes Platform, we collect and consolidate information on interregional research collaboration in terms of co-authorship networks. The effects of geographical distance on research collaboration are measured for different knowledge areas under the estimation of spatial interaction models. The main results suggest strong evidence of spatial de-concentration of scientific collaboration in the last years with an increase participation of authors in scientifically less traditional regions. Moreover, we also find evidence that distance still plays a crucial role in determining the intensity of knowledge flows in scientific collaboration networks in Brazil.(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)