The geography of intercity technological proximity: evidence from China

Li Yingcheng, Xiong Weiting and Hu Xiaowu

International Journal of Urban Sciences, 2023, vol. 27, issue 3, 355-370

Abstract: In the context of a globalizing knowledge economy, cities have become more technologically proximate due to the increasing exchanges of people, information, and knowledge. However, technological proximity at the city level has gained relatively little attention within the vast literature on proximity. Drawing upon detailed address information on nearly 3.6 million invention patents that were applied in China between 2012 and 2016, this paper investigates the geography of intercity technological proximity among 286 Chinese cities. Technological proximity is measured by comparing cities’ technological profiles which are represented by the distribution of different classifications of patenting activity in which cities specialize. The empirical results show that the level of intercity technological proximity among Chinese cities has been generally on the rise. Moreover, there is strong spatial political bias in the geography of intercity technological proximity, with geographical proximity and institutional proximity having played a significantly positive role in facilitating intercity technological proximity. HighlightsMeasure technological proximity among 286 Chinese cities using patent dataThe level of intercity technological proximity has been generally on the riseThe geography of intercity technological proximity has a spatial political biasGeographical and institutional proximity facilitates technological proximity

Date: 2023
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/12265934.2021.1938641 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

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:taf:rjusxx:v:27:y:2023:i:3:p:355-370

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/rjus20

DOI: 10.1080/12265934.2021.1938641

Access Statistics for this article

International Journal of Urban Sciences is currently edited by Dongjoo Park and Mack Joong Choi

More articles in International Journal of Urban Sciences from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().