International knowledge connectivity and the increasing concentration of innovation in major global cities.

The article investigates how trans-local knowledge connections influence innovative performance in local inventor epistemic communities within global cities, using patent citations as indicators of global knowledge connectivity. It identifies two key dimensions of knowledge connectivity: compatibility (the alignment between local and non-local technological knowledge) and geographical diversity (the spread of knowledge connections across differently specialized global cities). The study finds that both greater compatibility and wider geographical diversity of knowledge sources are positively associated with higher rates of invention in global cities. Additionally, the incorporation of information and communications technology (ICT) knowledge in non-ICT patents facilitates a broader geographical diversity of knowledge connections. The research highlights increasing metropolitan concentration of patented inventions in a limited number of global cities, accompanied by significant shifts in the composition of leading innovative cities, particularly with the rise of Asian cities, and underscores the role of international epistemic communities in driving local innovation and interregional inequality.