Following Bergeaud et al. (2022), we construct a new measure of proximity between industrial sectors and public research laboratories. Using this measure, we explore the underlying network of knowledge linkages between scientific fields and industrial sectors in France. We show empirically that there exists a significant negative correlation between the geographical distance between firms and laboratories and their scientific proximity, suggesting strongly localized spillovers. Moreover, we
uncover some important differences by field, stronger than when using standard patent-based measures of proximity.
JEL Classifications: O32, O38, R12
Keywords: knowledge spillovers, technological distance, public laboratories.
Antonin Bergeaud and Arthur Guillouzouic
7 November 2023 Paper Number POIDWP086
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