The Demise of Distance? The Declining Role of Physical Proximity for Knowledge Transmission

The transmission of knowledge diminishes with physical distance, one factor explaining the geographic clustering of scientific and industrial activity. The authors investigate how those distances have stretched over time—between collaborating inventors, and between inventors and the technology that inspires them. While physical distance is still a factor, it is clear that its constraining effects have weakened, especially for particular types of innovators, technologies, and regions of the United States.