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The Demise of Distance? The Declining Role of Physical Proximity for Knowledge Transmission
Author(s) -
JOHNSON DANIEL K. N.,
SIRIPONG ALYN,
BROWN AMY S.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
growth and change
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.657
H-Index - 55
eISSN - 1468-2257
pISSN - 0017-4815
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-2257.2006.00304.x
Subject(s) - demise , transmission (telecommunications) , economic geography , geographical distance , cluster analysis , factor (programming language) , geography , computer science , telecommunications , sociology , demography , political science , artificial intelligence , law , population , programming language
The transmission of knowledge diminishes with physical distance, one factor explaining the geographic clustering of scientific and industrial activity. The authors investigate how those distances have stretched over time—between collaborating inventors, and between inventors and the technology that inspires them. While physical distance is still a factor, it is clear that its constraining effects have weakened, especially for particular types of innovators, technologies, and regions of the United States.