Are Gatekeepers Important for the Renewal of the Local Knowledge Base? Evidence from U. S. Cities

Abstract

The authors offer an explorative perspective on the importance of gatekeepers for the expansion and renewal of U.S. cities’ knowledge base. They propose and test a number of indicators accounting for the role of gatekeepers in mediating knowledge flows across cities. Findings indicate that external direct relations are the key mechanism to inject fresh knowledge into a city and to amplify technological recombination opportunities; conversely, the greater the reliance on external relations governed by gatekeepers the lower the impact on a city knowledge base expansion and renewal.