Technology network structure conditions the economic resilience of regions

Gergo Toth, Zoltan Elekes, Adam Whittle, Changjun Lee and Dieter Kogler

No 2048, Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) from Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography

Abstract: This paper assesses the network robustness of the technological capability base of 269 European metropolitan areas against the potential elimination of some of their capabilities. By doing so it provides systematic evidence on how network robustness conditioned the economic resilience of these regions in the context of the 2008 economic crisis. The analysis concerns calls in the relevant literature for more in-depth analysis on the link between regional economic network structures and the resilience of regions to economic shocks. By adopting a network science approach that is novel to economic geographic inquiry, the objective is to stress-test the technological resilience of regions by utilizing information on the co-classification of CPC classes listed on European Patent Office patent documents. Findings from a regression analysis indicate that metropolitan regions with a more robust technological knowledge network structure exhibit higher levels of resilience with respect to changes in employment rates. This finding is robust to various random and targeted elimination strategies concerning the most frequently combined technological capabilities. Regions with high levels of employment in industry but with vulnerable technological capability base are particularly challenged by this aspect of regional economic resilience.

Keywords: regional economic resilience; network robustness; metropolitan regions; technology space (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020-09, Revised 2020-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cse, nep-geo, nep-ino, nep-net, nep-tid and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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http://econ.geo.uu.nl/peeg/peeg2048.pdf Version October 2020 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Technology Network Structure Conditions the Economic Resilience of Regions (2022)
Working Paper: Technology network structure conditions the economic resilience of regions (2022)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:egu:wpaper:2048

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