Taking Innovation to the Streets: Microgeography, Physical Structure, and Innovation

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Roche, Maria P.
• 署名单位: University System of Georgia; Georgia Institute of Technology; Harvard University
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF ECONOMICS AND STATISTICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0034-6535
• DOI: 10.1162/rest_a_00866
• 发表日期: 2020-12
• 页码: 912-928
• 关键词: knowledge spillovers; patent citations; geography; regions; PRODUCTIVITY; determinants; COMPETITION; TECHNOLOGY; GROWTH; FLOWS

摘要

In this paper, we analyze how the physical layout of cities affects innovation by influencing the organization of knowledge exchange. We exploit a novel data set covering all census block groups in the contiguous United States with information on innovation outcomes, street infrastructure, as well as population and workforce characteristics. To deal with concerns of omitted variable bias, we apply commuting zone fixed effects and construct instruments based on historic city planning. The results suggest that variation in street network density may explain regional innovation differentials beyond the traditional location externalities found in the literature.