Research productivity and the quality of interregional knowledge networks

This paper estimates the impact of interregional knowledge flows on the productivity of research at the regional level. We develop the novel index of ‘ego network quality’ in order to measure the contribution of knowledge accessed from the interregional network to the production of new knowledge inside the region. Quality of interregional knowledge networks is related to the level of knowledge accumulated by the partners (‘knowledge potential’), the extent of collaboration among partners (‘local connectivity’) and the position of partners in the entire knowledge network (‘global embeddedness’). Ego network quality impact on the productivity of research in scientific publications and patenting at the regional level is tested with co-patenting and EU Framework Program collaboration data for 189 European NUTS 2 regions.