The emergence of new technology-based sectors at the regional level: a proximity-based analysis of nanotechnology

Alessandra Colombelli, Jackie Krafft and Francesco Quatraro

No 1211, Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) from Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography

Abstract: This paper analyzes the emergence of new technology-based sectors at the regional level. We focus on the specific case of nanotechnology as representative of an industry based on a technology still in infancy whose evolution can be reliably traced on the basis of filed patent submissions. We implement a methodological framework based on the „product-space? approach, which allows us to investigate whether the development of new technologies is linked to the structure of the existing local knowledge base. We use patent data over the period 1986-2006 to carry out the analysis at the NUTS 2 level over the EU 15 countries. The results of the descriptive and econometric analysis supports the idea that history matters in the spatial development of a sector, and that the technological competences accumulated at the local level are likely to shape the future patterns of technological diversification.

Keywords: product space; technological diversification; new industries; capabilities; EU Regions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N94 O14 R11 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 45 pages
Date: 2012-06, Revised 2012-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cse, nep-geo, nep-knm and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (21)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:egu:wpaper:1211

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