Does agglomeration boost innovation? An econometric evaluation

Konferenzbeitrag

Innovation is crucial to regional economic competitiveness and to productivity growth. A salient feature of the Indian economy is the geographic concentration of both, economic activity and innovation, as measured by patent activity. Theoretical models argue that the clustering of economic activity within a geographic region results in knowledge spillovers, which in turn drives innovation. The literature also posits that the presence of human capital is critical to the generation of new knowledge. This paper studies how and why economic geography and factor endowments matter for innovative activity - in other words, what is the relationship between human capital and patent generation, and crucially, how is this affected by the spatial distribution of economic activity? The paper analyses patent activity, both applications and grants, between 1995 and 2004 across districts in India. By using an econometric model, it then relates innovation to measures of agglomeration, industry-type and the size distribution of firms, and to the distribution of human capital endowments. It also uses data on employment by industrial activity, productivity and FDI flows. Understanding the magnitude of the effects of economic geography and factor endowments is vital for policy formulation aimed at encouraging innovative activity.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: 50th Congress of the European Regional Science Association: "Sustainable Regional Growth and Development in the Creative Knowledge Economy", 19-23 August 2010, Jönköping, Sweden

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Size and Spatial Distributions of Regional Economic Activity

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Mukim, Megha
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): European Regional Science Association (ERSA)
• (where): Louvain-la-Neuve
• (when): 2010

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/119220
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET