Intercity Connectivity and Innovation

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that a city's position in intercity networks of communication, mobility, and collaboration significantly influences its innovation output, beyond what population size alone can explain, with regional differences observed between the US and China.

Contribution

It provides empirical evidence that intercity connectivity models better predict innovation activity than population-based models, highlighting the importance of network position in urban innovation dynamics.

Findings

Intercity connectivity improves prediction of patenting activity.

Chinese cities' innovation is more influenced by social media and mobility networks.

US innovation correlates more with scientific collaboration networks.

Abstract

Urban outputs, from economy to innovation, are known to grow as a power of a city's population. But, since large cities tend to be central in transportation and communication networks, the effects attributed to city size may be confounded with those of intercity connectivity. Here, we map intercity networks for the world's two largest economies (the United States and China) to explore whether a city's position in the networks of communication, human mobility, and scientific collaboration explains variance in a city's patenting activity that is unaccounted for by its population. We find evidence that models incorporating intercity connectivity outperform population-based models and exhibit stronger predictive power for patenting activity, particularly for technologies of more recent vintage (which we expect to be more complex or sophisticated). The effects of intercity connectivity are more robust in China, even after controlling for population, GDP, and education, but not in the United States once adjusted for GDP and education. This divergence suggests distinct urban network dynamics driving innovation in these regions. In China, models with social media and mobility networks explain more heterogeneity in the scaling of innovation, whereas in the United States, scientific collaboration plays a more significant role. These findings support the significance of a city's position within the intercity network in shaping its success in innovative activities.