The temporal value of local scientific expertise

Abstract

Abstract Inventors located in a vibrant scientific community enjoy faster access to relevant publications. The key role of the local scientific community is to provide access to global knowledge and not necessarily to feed the colocated inventors with direct inputs. We develop the logic for these effects and provide empirical tests using dyads of publication and patent data. We develop a model that links scientific knowledge, codified through publication, to industry’s inventive activity. Our analysis includes three key steps. First, we characterize the knowledge profile of local expertise for French NUTS3 jurisdictions. Second, we match scientific publications to industrial patents to consider the specific scientific knowledge useful to industrial invention. Finally, we examine the extent to which the presence of a local related scientific knowledge base provides utility for local inventions. Specifically, we consider the ability of local inventions to more rapidly avail themselves of scientific knowledge when located in a munificent location. We find that location reduces the timing to access to relevant worldwide publications by almost 1 year. Thus, colocation with scientific experts provides inventors a timing advantage by allowing earlier exploitation of recent global scientific discoveries.