Does the density of creative workers influence the rate of innovation in regions? We find a positive relationship between the density of creative workers in a region and the rate at which it generates patents. This suggests that density is a key component of innovation.

Authors
Brian Knudsen, H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management
Richard Florida, Martin Prosperity Institute, Rotman School of Management
Kevin Stolarick, Martin Prosperity Institute, Rotman School of Management
Gary Gates, The Williams Institute, School of Law, University of California at Los Angeles

Published in: Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Volume 98, Issue 2, June 2008, pages 461 – 478

Subjects: Economic Geography, Regional Development, Urban Studies

Related Projects: Creative Industries and the Creative Economy, Global Creativity, Jurisdictional Advantage, Mega-regions

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Abstract
Geographers and social scientists have probed the effects of agglomeration and spatial clustering on innovation and economic growth. Economists and others have identified the role of knowledge spillovers in driving the innovation process. Although innovation is thus assumed to be a function of proximity, there has been little systematic research on the role of density in innovation. This research investigates density, and more specifically the density of creative workers, as a key factor influencing regional innovation. It uses principal components analysis to create and implement a composite measure of density and presents a model of innovation as a function of creative density. Statistical analyses including multivariate regression find that density and creativity separately and jointly affect innovation in metropolitan areas. The regression analysis finds a positive relationship between the density of creative workers and metropolitan patenting activity, suggesting that density is a key component of knowledge spillovers and a key component of innovation.