Research: Trans-local geographies of innovation, inventors' mobility, human capital concentration and spatial justice: the case of the anti-Covid mRNA vaccine
Personal Information:
Francesco Castellano is a PhD candidate in Economic Geography at La Sapienza University of Rome, where he also earned his Master’s degree in Economics.
His research interests lie at the intersection of innovation geography, complex systems analysis, and implications for spatial justice.
Adopting an interdisciplinary approach, Francesco combines quantitative methodologies, such as complex network analysis, with qualitative methods, including life histories research, to explore the geographies emerging from innovative activities and their meaning in terms of spatial (in-)justice.
Academic Field:
M-GGR/02 - GEOG-01/B - 11/GEOG-01 Economic-Political Geography
(Provisional) Abstract:
The inventors' mobility has gained increasing attention in recent years as it is one of the key factors explaining the spatial diffusion of knowledge and the technological changes occurring at the regional level. Despite the rapid growth of research on this topic, many open questions remain. This is largely due to the literature's focus on the effects of mobility on the diffusion and diversification of knowledge, often overlooking the resulting concentration of human capital, the spatial inequalities that arise, and the role of regions in shaping mobility itself.
This research aims to address these gaps by focusing on the following questions:
What is the effect of knowledge production on inventors’ mobility and the resulting geography of the innovation process?
What role do regions play in the development of human capital, and to what extent have leading regions benefited from mobility?
What factors do inventors consider important when choosing their location, and how is this process of concentration perceived by them?
How can the process of human capital concentration and accumulation be interpreted from a spatial justice perspective?
To achieve these objectives, the research adopts a mixed methodological approach. On the one hand, it involves an empirical analysis of mobility during the innovation process that led to the development of mRNA-based Covid vaccines, examining the spatial networks generated by this mobility. On the other hand, it incorporates a qualitative analysis of the decision-making processes undertaken by the inventors themselves.
The study aims to shed light on the factors driving inventors’ mobility, the geographies emerging from it, and the relationship between mobility, the resulting concentration of human capital, and spatial justice.