Understanding the geographical distribution of innovation in England: density, accessibility and spillover effects

We examine the role of population density and accessibility in shaping innovation intensity in the 32,000 lower super output areas (LSOAs) in England. Our analysis focuses on firms' registered intellectual property - patents, trademarks and registered designs - and using spatial autoregression models suggests four key results. We find a positive relationship between population density and innovation intensity, a consistent negative relationship between longer journey times to the nearest town centre and innovation intensity, and a strong interaction effect between population density and accessibility. Finally, we find strong evidence of local innovation spillovers reflecting either competition or demonstration effects.