# 24.14 The Roles of Geographic Distance and Technological Complexity in U.S. Interregional Co-patenting Over Almost Two Centuries

Milad Abbasiharofteh, Tom Broekel & Lars Mewes

pdf

Abstract:

This paper examines how geographical proximity affected interregional co-patenting links in various technologies in the USA from 1836 to 2010. We classify technologies by their complexity and test whether that moderates the impact of distance on collaboration. Contrary to the ‘death of distance’ hypothesis, distance still matters for knowledge creation and exchange. Moreover, we show that the role of complexity has changed over time. However, this pattern reversed by the late 20th century, with collaborations in complex technologies becoming more resilient to distance than those in simpler technologies. However, this pattern reversed by the late 20th century, with collaborations in complex technologies becoming more resilient to distance than those in simpler technologies.

# 24.13 Green-tech transition beyond regional borders: the role of embodied green knowledge flows

Adelia Fatikhova, Fabrizio Fusillo, and Sandro Montresor

pdf

Abstract:

This work investigates the role of external exchanges of green knowledge on the regional development of new green technological specializations. We extend the recombinant knowledge framework to commodity-embodied knowledge and posit that inter-industry inter-regional flows of commodities, in which new green knowledge gets incorporated, are a channel through which regions can increase their opportunities of specializing in new green technologies and diversify in a more exploratory manner. We further expect these dynamics to be stronger when foreign rather than domestic embodied flows are concerned. By combining the EUREGIO input-output database with patent data, we test our hypotheses on a sample of 237 EU (NUTS2) regions over the period 2000-2019. We measure the regions’ centrality in the network of inter-regional flows of embodied green knowledge (GreenFlowNet) and exploit regional network centrality in a model of related diversification for green technologies. Results show that the centrality of regions in the network is positively associated with green diversification, making this process more exploratory. We also find that the regional ability to acquire new green-techs is mainly associated with the centrality in outward flows of green knowledge towards other regions rather than inward ones. Lastly, we find that regions’ green-tech diversification seems to be enabled (at the extensive margin) primarily by their centrality in the foreign network and accelerated (at the intensive margin) by their centrality in the domestic one. Policy implications are drawn accordingly.

# 22.12 Bridging the innovation gap. AI and robotics as drivers of China’s urban innovation

Andrés Rodríguez-Pose and Zhuoying You

pdf

Abstract:

Artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics are revolutionising production, yet their potential to stimulate innovation and change innovation patterns remains underexplored. This paper examines whether AI and robotics can spearhead technological innovation, with a particular focus on their capacity to deliver where other policies have mostly failed: less developed cities and regions. We resort to OLS and IV-2SLS methods to probe the direct and moderating influences of AI and robotics on technological innovation across 270 Chinese cities. We further employ quantile regression analysis to assess their impacts on innovation in more and less innovative cities. The findings reveal that AI and robotics significantly promote technological innovation, with a pronounced impact in cities at or below the technological frontier. Additionally, the use of AI and robotics improves the returns of investment in science and technology (S&T) on technological innovation. AI and robotics moderating effects are often more pronounced in less innovative cities, meaning that AI and robotics are not just powerful instruments for the promotion of innovation but also effective mechanisms to reduce the yawning gap in regional innovation between Chinese innovation hubs and the rest of the country.

# 24.11 The Skill Requirements of the Circular Economy

Duygu Buyukyazici and Francesco Quatraro

pdf

Abstract:

In response to global challenges related to resource scarcity and environmental concerns, the circular economy (CE) has emerged as a transformative model focused on resource eciency and waste reduction. As the discourse around the CE intensifies, understanding the skill requirements of the CE becomes imperative for effective policy-making, workforce development, and regional competitiveness. This paper addresses the scarcity of quantitative methods on this aspect and proposes a conceptual and empirical framework to identify, analyse, and monitor the skill requirements of the CE through a comprehensive and reproducible approach based on relative skill advantage, skill relatedness, and skill complexity measures. Accordingly, it identifies the essential and complementary skills within the CE by constructing unique skill spaces and documents their regional variation.

# 24.10 The importance of science for the development of new PV technologies in European regions

Maria Tsouri and Ron Boschma

pdf

Abstract:

Studies show that local capabilities contribute to the green transition, yet little attention has been devoted to the role of scientific capabilities. The paper assesses the importance of local scientific capabilities and the inflow of scientific knowledge from elsewhere for the ability of regions in Europe to diversify into photovoltaic (PV) segments during the period 1998 to 2015, employing a combined dataset on patents and scientific publications. We find that local scientific capabilities matter, but not so much the inflow of relevant scientific knowledge from other regions, as proxied by scientific citations of patents in PV segments. Regions are also likely to diversify into a PV segment when they have technological capabilities related to other PV segments. Finally, we found that European regions are less likely to lose an existing PV segment specialization when they have intra-regional and extra-regional scientific capabilities in this PV segment.

# 24.09 How regions diversify into new jobs: From related industries or related occupations?

Jason Deegan, Tom Broekel, Silje Haus-Reve and Rune Dahl Fitjar

pdf

Abstract:

This paper adds a multidimensional perspective to the study of related diversification. We examine how regions diversify into new jobs – defined as unique industry-occupation combinations – asking whether they do so from related industries or related occupations. We use linked employer-employee data for all labour market regions in Norway, covering the time period 2009 –2014. Diversification into new jobs is more likely in the presence of related occupations and industries in a region. Furthermore, occupational and industrial relatedness have complementary effects on diversification. Occupational relatedness and its interaction with industrial relatedness are particularly important for diversification into more complex activities.

# 24.08 Inventing modern invention: the professionalization of technological progress in the US

Matte Hartog, Andres Gomez-Lievano, Ricardo Hausmann & Frank Neffke

pdf

Abstract:

Between the mid-19th and mid-20th century, the US transformed from an agricultural economy to the frontier in science, technology and industry. We study how the US transitioned from traditional craftsmanship-based to today’s science-based innovation. To do so, we digitize half a million pages of patent yearbooks that describe inventors, organizations and technologies on over 1.6M patent and add demographic information from US census records and information on corporate research activities from large-scale repeated surveys on industrial research labs. Starting in 1920, the 19th-century craftsmanship-based invention was, within just 20 years, overtaken by a rapidly emerging new system based on teamwork and a new specialist class of inventors, engineers. This new system relied on a social innovation: industrial research labs. These labs supported high-skill teamwork, replacing the collaborations within families with professional ties in firms and industrial research labs. This shift had wide-ranging consequences. It not only altered the division of labor in invention, but also reshaped the geography of innovation, reestablishing large cities as epicenters of technological progress and introduced new barriers to patenting for women and foreign-born inventors that have persisted into the 21st century.

# 24.07 Fueling the Fire? How Government Support Drives Technological Progress and Complexity

Carolin Nast, Tom Broekel & Doris Entner

pdf

Abstract:

This study investigated two major trends shaping contemporary technological progress: the growing complexity of innovation and the increasing reliance on government support for private research and development (R&D). We analyzed United States patent data from 1981 to 2016 using structural vector autoregressions and uncovered an indirect interplay between these trends. Our findings showed that government incentives and support played a crucial role in spurring private-sector innovation. This government-fueled innovation, in turn, paved the way for advancements in more intricate and sophisticated technological areas.

Our study sheds light on the dual role of the United States’ innovation policy over the past four decades; the policy has not only accelerated technological advancement but also steered it toward increasingly complex domains. While this trend presents opportunities for economic growth and technological breakthroughs, it also poses challenges, including the potential for further escalating R&D costs. This research has significant implications for policymakers and industry leaders, suggesting a need for a balanced approach to fostering innovation while considering the long-term economic and technological landscape.

# 24.06 Bridging the innovation gap. AI and robotics as drivers of China’s urban innovation

Andrés Rodríguez-Pose & Zhuoying You

pdf

Abstract:

Artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics are revolutionising production, yet their potential to stimulate innovation and change innovation patterns remains underexplored. This paper examines whether AI and robotics can spearhead technological innovation, with a particular focus on their capacity to deliver where other policies have mostly failed: less developed cities and regions. We resort to OLS and IV-2SLS methods to probe the direct and moderating influences of AI and robotics on technological innovation across 270 Chinese cities. We further employ quantile regression analysis to assess their impacts on innovation in more and less innovative cities. The findings reveal that AI and robotics significantly promote technological innovation, with a pronounced impact in cities at or below the technological frontier. Additionally, the use of AI and robotics improves the returns of investment in science and technology (S&T) on technological innovation. AI and robotics moderating effects are often more pronounced in less innovative cities, meaning that AI and robotics are not just powerful instruments for the promotion of innovation but also effective mechanisms to reduce the yawning gap in regional innovation between Chinese innovation hubs and the rest of the country.

# 24.05 The geography of EU discontent and the regional development trap

Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, Lewis Dijkstra & Hugo Poelman

pdf

Abstract:

While in recent times many regions have flourished, many others are stuck —or are at risk of becoming stuck— in a development trap. Such regions experience decline in economic growth, employment, and productivity relative to their neighbours and to their own past trajectories. Prolonged periods in development traps are leading to political dissatisfaction and unrest. Such discontent is often translated into support for anti-system parties at the ballot box. In this paper we study the link between the risk, intensity, and duration of regional development traps and the rise of discontent in the European Union (EU) —proxied by the support for Eurosceptic parties in national elections between 2013 and 2022— using an econometric analysis at a regional level. The results highlight the strong connection between being stuck in a development trap, often in middle- or high-income regions, and support for Eurosceptic parties. They also suggest that the longer the period of stagnation, the stronger the support for parties opposed to European integration. This relationship is also robust to considering only the most extreme Eurosceptic parties or to including parties that display more moderate levels of Euroscepticism.