The geography of science in 12 European countries: a NUTS2-level analysis

David Andersson, Åke E. Andersson, Björn Hårsman and Xiyi Yang
Additional contact information
Åke E. Andersson: Jönköping University
Björn Hårsman: Royal Institute of Technology
Xiyi Yang: Shanghai Tech University

Scientometrics, 2020, vol. 124, issue 2, No 13, 1099-1125

Abstract: Abstract Europe has a long history as a global center of scientific research, but not all European regions are alike. Regions such as Île de France and the corridor that stretches from Cambridge to Oxford via London produce a disproportionate share of Europe’s science output. An econometric analysis sheds light on the factors that explain the spatial distribution of European science. One result is that the regional volume of Web of Science publications depends on the regional number of researchers in higher education institutions. This is however not the only cause of high output. Universities and their surrounding regions are slowly evolving institutional structures. Some regions host universities that are more than 500 years old. A second key result is that an increase in the age of a region’s oldest university is associated with greater output, other things being equal. Third, interregional accessibility via road, rail, and air networks is important for small regions, but not for large ones. Conversely, regional high-tech R&D employment is important for large but not for small regions.

Keywords: Science output; NUTS2 region; Agglomeration economies; Institutions; EU (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11192-020-03510-9 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:scient:v:124:y:2020:i:2:d:10.1007_s11192-020-03510-9

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/11192

DOI: 10.1007/s11192-020-03510-9

Access Statistics for this article

Scientometrics is currently edited by Wolfgang Glänzel

More articles in Scientometrics from Springer, Akadémiai Kiadó
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().