Economists say you could be missing out on 'knowledge spillovers' if you build your career away from a big city
- "Knowledge spillovers" are IRL meetings that can expand your network or help you learn new things.
- They're more common in industry hubs.
"Knowledge spillovers" are just one reason why a big-city exodus in the wake of the pandemic could impair future career prospects for people.
Economists define knowledge spillovers as serendipitous meetings — on the bus or in a bar, for example — that can expand your professional network or help you learn new things.
And they're much more common in industry hubs, Business Insider's Aki Ito writes in a feature about the hidden price of leaving big cities:
It's one reason big cities have been "underappreciated" during the pandemic, says economist Enrico Moretti.
A 2022 study on knowledge spillovers in Silicon Valley cited the work of developer AnnaLee Saxenian, stating that "frequent face-to-face interactions, and the knowledge flows that resulted, were a large part of what made Silicon Valley the dominant technology hub it is today."
The study used smartphone data to measure meetings, and concluded that "face-to-face interactions — instrumented by the meetings of workers in adjacent establishments in unconnected industries — substantially increase knowledge flows."
You can read more about the professional benefits to living in a big city right here.