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Integrating the insights from both institutional theory and economic geography, we develop a new conceptual framework to explain how formal and informal institutions in developing countries influence knowledge exchanges within and across geographical locations, thus affecting entrepreneurs’ and firms’ innovative behaviors and outputs. We suggest that the prevalence of informal institutions in developing countries increases the importance of geographic proximity for knowledge exchanges. At the same time, informal institutions provide alternative channels for maintaining non-local social interactions that facilitate knowledge exchanges among geographically distant firms. Using China as the context, we provide theoretical propositions that illustrate these mechanisms in terms of the different innovative behaviors between domestic Chinese firms and multinational companies operating in China. This article …