Fruits of Their Neighbors: The Role of Geography in Agricultural Innovation

Abstract

Closely following the notion of innovative geographic clusters, this paper examines knowledge flows in the US agriculture industry for evidence of innovative agglomeration. The data indicate that a closer distance between any two agricultural patent origins increases the probability that one cites the other as prior art. Further, subtle inter-regional variations characterize the degree to which proximity advances agricultural innovation. Finally, the results show that older innovations in agriculture proliferate more readily than recently created knowledge.

Keywords: innovation, agriculture, economic geography, patents, distance, invention

JEL Classification: O33, Q16, R12