Are Female Inventors Geographically Constrained? Gender Differences in Team Collocation
We present a new, stylized fact: female inventors are more likely to be collocated with their co-inventors compared to men. We interpret this correlation as suggestive evidence that women inventors face higher geographical frictions, potentially due to family obligations. This is a concerning possibility, given that 50% of all team patents in 2020 was produced by multi-located teams, and is particularly relevant for the work-from-anywhere debate. In support of our interpretation, we find that the collocation gender gap exists for both new and experienced inventors. The collocation gap increases with age: women are less collocated than men when they are statistically less likely to have children (under 32), but become more collocated past this threshold. Men, instead, become consistently less collocated as they age. Preliminary evidence suggests that women who worked on multi-location patents early in their careers stop patenting earlier. To conclude, the gap (and the gendered geographical frictions it might represent) is mitigated in top technology clusters where teams are typically more collocated.