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The domestic localization of knowledge flows as evidenced by publication citation: the case of Italy

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Abstract

This work applies a new approach to measure knowledge flows. Assuming that citation linkages between articles imply a flow of knowledge from the cited to the citing authors, we investigate the geographic flows of scientific knowledge produced in Italy across its regions, at both overall and field level. Furthermore, we measure the the specialization indexes for outflows and inflows of knowledge by a given region. Findings show that larger regions in terms of research output are more likely net exporters of new knowledge. At the same time, we register a positive correlation between the share of intraregional flows and the size of overall scientific output of a region.

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Notes

  1. We refer the reader to Abramo (2018) for a thorough discussion on the subject.

  2. In this work, we use the term knowledge flows without any further distinction, such as between horizontal and vertical knowledge flows.

  3. We include self-citing publications, because it may not matter whether the subsequent development that flows from a publication is performed by the same author(s), as long as it is performed in her or his region.

  4. The spillovers we measure do not account for the sharing of knowledge among co-authors inherent in any research collaboration.

  5. SCI-E: Science Citation Index Expanded; SSCI: Social Sciences Citation Index; A&HCI: Arts & Humanities Citation Index; CPCI-S: Conference Proceedings Citation Index- Science; CPCI-SSH: Conference Proceedings Citation Index- Social Science & Humanities; BKCI-S: Book Citation Index– Science; BKCI-SSH: Book Citation Index– Social Sciences & Humanities.

  6. The same as in column 8 of Table 1.

  7. Mathematics; Physics; Chemistry; Earth and Space Sciences; Biology; Biomedical Research; Clinical Medicine; Psychology; Engineering; Economics; Law, political and social sciences; Art and Humanities; Multidisciplinary Sciences. The macro-areas and the assignment of SCs to them were at some point defined by the Institute of Scientific Information (ISI), although no longer showing in current Clarivate Analytics bibliographic products. There is no multi-assignment of SCs to macro-areas.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory for Studies in Research Evaluation, Institute for System Analysis and Computer Science (IASI-CNR), National Research Council of Italy, Rome, Italy

    Giovanni Abramo & Ciriaco Andrea D’Angelo

  2. Department of Engineering and Management, University of Rome “Tor Vergata”, Rome, Italy

    Ciriaco Andrea D’Angelo

Authors
  1. Giovanni Abramo
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  2. Ciriaco Andrea D’Angelo
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Correspondence to Giovanni Abramo.

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Abramo, G., D’Angelo, C.A. The domestic localization of knowledge flows as evidenced by publication citation: the case of Italy. Scientometrics 125, 1305–1329 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-020-03487-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-020-03487-5

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