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Urban-suburban inventor connectivity and innovation quality: Evidence from intra-metropolitan innovation networks
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DOI：10.1016/j.jwb.2026.101729.png)
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Abstract
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This study develops the concept of ‘urban-suburban connectivity’ among inventors within metropolitan areas and examines its impact on innovation quality. Using comprehensive patent data from Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and San Diego (2008-2017), we analyze 93,689 patents to test whether urban-suburban connectivity, operationalized as inventor teams spanning urban cores and suburban areas, produces higher-quality innovations, measured by forward citations. Using two-stage least squares to address endogeneity concerns, our results show that urban-suburban connectivity significantly boosts innovation quality, generating approximately 6.5 additional forward citations. This increase arises from the demographic diversity and cognitive distance between these areas that foster knowledge recombination. Its impact is moderated by firm characteristics: large corporations and foreign MNEs derive less value from these local links than local and small firms because their expansive geographic footprints already provide access to the diverse perspectives necessary for their corporate innovation systems. The study contributes to the international business and innovation geography literatures by introducing intra-metropolitan connectivity as a novel dimension of spatial proximity. We emphasize that bridging urban-suburban divides benefits the innovation performance of small, local firms relatively more than that of large MNEs. These findings provide relevant guidance for managers and policymakers interested in fostering economic development.
Keywords:
urban-suburban connectivity
innovation quality
inventor networks
spatial proximity
knowledge recombination
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