Geographical Distance in Advice Networks and Individual Patenting Performance

Abstract

R&D engineers rely on daily advice seeking to achieve their tasks and, accordingly, how their advice ties are arranged influences their individual performance. Among network dimensions, the role of geographical distance between advice providers and a focal advice seeker has rarely been investigated, despite extended literature on how geography affects knowledge circulation. To capture the effects of geographical distance in advice networks, we take a mixed method approach. We analyze the lived experience of R&D workers, as recounted in in-depth interviews, which results in a conceptual distinction between two types of advice seeking: surface and deep advice seeking. They differ in terms of their process, form of reciprocity, and expected contribution. Equipped with this dual conceptualization and prior literature on the geography of knowledge, we theorize that geographical distance benefits deep advice seeking but is detrimental to surface advice seeking. We find support for our hypotheses using a sample of 113 R&D workers from the French semi-conductor industry.