Networks of Inventors and the Location of University Research: An Exploration of Italian Data

This paper proposes a quantitative analysis of social distance between Open Science and Proprietary Technology. A few
general properties of social networks within both realms are discussed, as they emerge from the new economics of science and
recent applied work on “small worlds”. A new data-set on patent inventors is explored, in order to show that social networks
within Proprietary Technology are much more fragmented than Open Science ones, except for science-based technologies.
Two propositions are then put forward on the “open” behaviour expected from academic inventors, namely university scientists
getting involved in Proprietary Technology networks by signing patents. Both propositions are confirmed by data, which show
academic inventors to be more central and better connected than non-academic ones. The database and methodology produced
for this paper are suggested to be relevant for the more general debate on the role of geographical and cognitive distance in
university–industry technology transfer.