| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Geography, Ghent University, Ghent, 9000 Belgium College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092 China;2. Department of Geography, Ghent University, Ghent, 9000 Belgium;3. College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092 China |
| Abstract: | The combined importance of geographical and non-geographical proximity has been extensively examined, but the interactions between both—substitution/complementarity—are less well understood. This paper therefore explores the impact of, and interaction between different forms of proximity (geographical, institutional, social, cognitive and cultural/linguistic proximity) on knowledge collaboration in the medical sciences sector in the Yangtze River Delta. The results show that most dimensions of proximity have a positive impact on scientific collaboration. We find that institutional proximity can compensate for the lack of geographical proximity, which in turn reinforces social and cognitive proximity in facilitating inter-organizational scientific collaboration. |
