Measuring science: Spatial investigation of academic opportunities in Belgium

By revisiting Lotka's law to account for the concentration of authors in a given field, this paper examines the determinants of scientific productivity in Belgium, measured as publications' "impact scores". We then estimate "arrondissement impact scores" in a model that incorporates spatial interaction, and takes account of regional spillovers. Lotka's law reveals knowledge about the indivisibilities favouring scientific concentration. Global determinants of scientific productivity, controlling for knowledge specialization, are represented mainly by past scientific activity and national language. Spatial investigation based on scientific field reveals that proximity is a smaller facilitator of knowledge diffusion than use of English. Copyright (c) 2010 the author(s). Journal compilation (c) 2010 RSAI.