The path- and place-dependent nature of scientific knowledge production in biotech 1986-2008
研究了1986-2008年全球生物技术科学知识生产的空间演化，发现知识生产具有路径依赖和地方依赖特征，不同增长类型的城市在主题相关性和合作水平上存在差异。
This study explores the worldwide spatial evolution of scientific knowledge production in biotechnology in the period 1986-2008. We employ new methodology that identifies new key topics in biotech on the basis of frequent use of title worlds in major biotech journals as an indication of new cognitive developments within this scientific field. Our analyses show that biotech is subject to a path- and place-dependent process of knowledge production. We observed a high degree of re-occurrences of similar key topics in biotech in consecutive years. Furthermore, slow growth cities in biotech are characterized by topics that are less technologically related to other topics, while high growth cities in biotech contribute to topics that are more related to the entire set of existing topics. Slow growth and stable growth cities in biotech introduced more new topics, while fast growth cities in biotech introduced more promising topics. Slow growth cities also showed low levels of research collaboration, as compared with stable and high growth cities. © The Author (2013). Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.