Mobility of skilled workers and co-invention networks: an anatomy of localized knowledge flows

This article illustrates the contribution of mobile inventors and networks of inventors to
\nthe diffusion of knowledge across firms and within cities or states. It is based upon an
\noriginal data set on US inventors’ patent applications at the European Patent Office,
\nin the fields of drugs, biotechnology and organic chemistry. The study combines the
\nmethodology originally proposed by Jaffe et al. (1993, Quarterly Journal of Economics,
\n108: 577–598) with tools from social network analysis, in order to evaluate extent of
\nthe localization of knowledge flows, as measured by patent citations. After controlling
\nfor inventors’ mobility and for the resulting co-invention…