Investigating Network-based Proximity in American Biotechnology

Proximity among economic agents in spatial clusters fosters invention and innovation. An alternative perspective stresses interregional collaborative networks in which individuals and groups are embedded in wide-ranging webs of relationships. This article use spatial statistical approaches to explore the changing structures of collaborative systems in American biotechnology from 1979 to 2009. Both network and spatial patterns of association on American metropolitan areas over the two periods are explored. Results show that intermetropolitan network complexity has broadened and deepened. While inventors in major metropolitan areas are the foremost collaborators, a dense web of knowledge exchange has emerged that is not singularly controlled by a handful of intermediaries