The Impact of Remote Work on Collaborative Breakthroughs

A study analyzing millions of research papers and patent applications suggests that research teams based in the same location are more likely to achieve disruptive breakthroughs compared to remote teams. While remote collaboration allows for greater collective knowledge, the lack of full integration hinders engagement in conceptual tasks necessary for foundational discoveries. The study found that as collaboration distance increased, the probability of disruption decreased. The decline in breakthrough innovation and research productivity in recent years supports these findings. Further research is needed to understand why and how remote teams produce less disruptive research.