Cross-Region Knowledge Flows in China: New Evidence from a Negative Binomial Gravity Model Using Co-Publication Data

Abstract

In recent years, collaborative knowledge production has become a central concern, not only for the scientific community but also for policy makers. In particular, there is a lively debate on the role of geographical space for research collaborations. Up to now, nearly no systematic empirical research has been reported that investigates collaborative knowledge production in China. This study tries to fill this gap by focusing on the geographical and technological dimension of research collaborations between 31 Chinese regions. We use scientific publications with multiple author addresses (co-publications) as a proxy for collaborative knowledge production and analyse more than 140 thousand Chinese scientific publications of the year 2007 coming from the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) database. The objective is to detect spatial patterns of research collaborations in China by means of spatial data and network analysis techniques, and to estimate the impact of geographical, technological and economic factors on the variation of cross-region collaboration activities within a regional gravity model framework. Given the overdispersion in our data, we employ a Negative Binomial specification for our gravity equations. The results provide prima facie evidence that geographical space bears essential barriers for cross-region collaborative knowledge production in China. However, technological proximity matters more than geographical factors, while economic effects only play a minor role. In a Chinese research and technology policy context, the results suggest further efforts and purposeful measures - such as harmonising the Chinese research and education systems - to integrate the Chinese research area.