Knowledge in socio-economic systems: Insights from collaboration, mobility, and data-driven models

Presentation Slides (PDF)

Abstract

Knowledge plays a central role in shaping economics and science. In this talk, I will explore the structure, exchange, and transfer of knowledge in socio-economic systems. I will focus on collaborations between firms and scientists and how these interactions influence knowledge production. I will also examine how the knowledge possessed by these actors shapes their collaborations. My analysis will show that knowledge not only results from collaboration but also drives it. Additionally, I will reconstruct the transfer of tacit knowledge by analyzing scientists’ mobility across institutes, cities, and countries. These patterns reveal temporal correlations that challenge traditional views of mobility networks and introduce the concept of “knowledge corridors.” To capture these dynamics, I will use a data-driven approach, combining statistical analyses of patent and publication data with empirically calibrated agent-based models. This will provide a comprehensive understanding of knowledge flow in complex collaborative systems.