Can You Hear Me Now? The Importance of Location for Knowledge Transfer in the Telecommunications Sector

Abstract:     
This paper examines the evidence on the clustering of innovators within the telecommunications sector, using U.S. patent citation data to trace their locations over time. While clustering is clearly evident, we use multivariate left-censored Tobit regression analysis to control for identifiable factors, showing that the distance between successive innovators has been rising over time, perhaps even exponentially.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 9

Keywords: Geographical clustering, Patents, intellectual property, Telecommunications sector, Knowledge Spillover

JEL Classification: L9, L2, L1, D62

working papers series