Network proximity in the geography of research collaboration

This paper deals with the questions of how network proximity influences the structure of inter‐regional collaborations and how it interacts with geography. I first introduce a new, theoretically grounded measure of inter‐regional network proximity. Then, I use data on European scientific co‐publications in the field of chemistry between 2001 and 2005 to assess those questions. The main findings reveal that inter‐regional network proximity is important in determining future collaborations but its effect is mediated by geography. Most importantly, a clear substitution pattern is revealed showing that network proximity mainly benefits international collaborations.