Borders and Distance in Knowledge Spillovers: Dying over Time or Dying with Age? - Evidence from Patent Citations

36 Pages Posted: 7 May 2013 Last revised: 25 Jan 2015

See all articles by Yao Amber Li

Yao Amber Li

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology - School of Business and Management, Department of Economics; HKUST IEMS (Institute for Emerging Market Studies)

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Date Written: June 1, 2014

Abstract

This paper explores the effects of distance as well as subnational and national borders on international and intranational knowledge spillovers through patent citations across the 39 most patent-cited countries and 319 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) within the U.S. In contrast to previous findings that knowledge localization fades over time, border and distance effects increase over time for the same-age citations. This increasing effect of borders and distance is associated with strengthened knowledge agglomeration over time. Nevertheless, both border and distance effects decrease with the age of patents. Aggregate border effects are often overestimated due to various aggregation bias. Moreover, business travels and knowledge quality effectively attenuate the effect of subnational borders in knowledge flows.

Keywords: Border Effect, Distance, Gravity, Knowledge Spillovers, Patent Citations, Business Travels, Knowledge Quality, Subnational Borders, MSA

JEL Classification: F1, F2, O3, R1, R4

Suggested Citation

Li, Yao Amber, Borders and Distance in Knowledge Spillovers: Dying over Time or Dying with Age? - Evidence from Patent Citations (June 1, 2014). European Economic Review, October 2014, volume 71, pp. 152-172., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2261113 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2261113

Yao Amber Li (Contact Author)

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology - School of Business and Management, Department of Economics; HKUST IEMS (Institute for Emerging Market Studies) ( email )

Department of Economics, Hong Kong U of Sci&Tech
Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China
Kowloon
Hong Kong

HOME PAGE: http://yaoli.people.ust.hk/

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