Role of Patent Co-inventorship Networks in Regional Inventive Performance

Patent co-inventorship networks are important for knowledge acquisition and can influence the innovative performance of regions. However, collaborative networks play a different role depending on the regional characteristics. Thus, we analyze the relationship between the properties of technological collaboration networks and the inventive performance for core and peripheral regions. We also classified the regions using a typology created from their potential to access knowledge in the intra- and interregional networks. The collaborative networks were constructed by means of patent application data for Brazil in the period 2000–2011. The main results show that the external links in the co-inventorship networks are essential for regions that do not have autosufficiency to innovate. Therefore, the regions lagging behind can benefit from the diffusion of knowledge created in core regions by means the interregional collaborations with such regions.