Studies show U.S. research universities may have a greater impact if located in the downtown core of a city.

Interactions and relationships between universities, firms, entrepreneurs, research labs and independent inventors are most successful when they are in close proximity to each other. In many cases, this means universities in the core of a city fare better overall because of their accessibility to these other groups, the Brookings Institute reports.

Brookings studied research universities in employment-dense neighborhoods such as midtowns and downtowns in the 100 largest cities in the U.S. and found that downtown universities do have more success in a number of areas.

Of the institutions studied, those in a metro core area produced 71% more startups than their suburban counterparts, 123% more inventions and created 80% more licensing deals and 222% more income from licensing agreements.

Rockefeller University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania and Carnegie Mellon University are among the top five ranked schools in the report.