Technological Enclaves and Industrial Districts: An Analysis of the Regional Distribution of Innovative Activity in Europe

This paper explores the spatial distribution of innovative and productive activity across 109 regions of the European Union, thanks to an original databank on regional patents statistics. The main results worth highlighting are as follows. The technological activity in the EU appears to be highly concentrated, although concentration tends to decline over the eighties. This results from the huge differences between southern and northern Europe. As expected, there is a positive association between the regional distribution of innovative activity and labour productivity. Further, contrary to previous evidence on the United States, our data show a significant link between the specialisation in innovation and in production both at the country and at the industry level. This suggests that localised knowledge spillovers and agglomeration economies foster a local economic system towards a specialisation in both production and technology. More surprisingly there appears a negative correlation between technological concentration and aggregate productivity, that is the European regions which enjoy a more homogeneous distribution of their technological capability across different industrial sectors appear to be also characterised by a higher productivity level. This outcome may suggest the presence of positive inter-industry externalities that favour those regions which succeed in covering a broader range of technological activities.

[1]  A. Marshall.  Principles of Economics , .

[2]  F. Perroux,et al.  Economic Space: Theory and Applications , 1950 .

[3]  Zvi Griliches,et al.  Patents and R and D at the Firm Level: A First Look , 1980 .

[4]  K. Pavitt,et al.  R&D Patenting and Innovative Activities : A Statistical Exploration : Research Policy , 1982 .

[5]  S. Winter,et al.  An evolutionary theory of economic change , 1983 .

[6]  Sebastiano Brusco.  The Emilian model: productive decentralisation and social integration , 1982 .

[7]  K. Pavitt.  Sectoral Patterns of Technical Change : Towards a Taxonomy and a Theory : Research Policy , 1984 .

[8]  A. Pakes,et al.  Patents and R&D at the Firm Level: A First Look , 1984 .

[9]  The Regional Economic Impact of Technological Change , 1985 .

[10]  Paul A. David,et al.  Economic policy and technological performance: Some new standards for the economics of standardization in the information age , 1987 .

[11]  Jonathan Zeitlin,et al.  Reversing industrial decline? : industrial structure and policy in Britain and her competitors , 1989 .

[12]  G. Becattini,et al.  Industrial districts and inter-firm co-operation in Italy , 1990 .

[13]  Z. Griliches.  Patent Statistics as Economic Indicators: a Survey , 1990 .

[14]  Roberto Camagni,et al.  Innovation Networks , 1991 .

[15]  La technopole comme système industriel localisé : éléments d'analyse et enseignements empiriques , 1991 .

[16]  B. Pecqueur,et al.  Les districts technologiques, un nouveau concept pour l'étude des relations technologies-territoires , 1992 .

[17]  M. Storper.  The Limits to Globalization: Technology Districts and International Trade , 1992 .

[18]  Robert E Evenson.  Patents, R&D, and Invention Potential: International Evidence , 1993 .

[19]  Elhanan Helpman,et al.  International R&D spillovers , 1995 .

[20]  E. Hippel.  Sticky Information and the Locus of Problem Solving: Implications for Innovation , 1994 .

[21]  Jan Fagerberg,et al.  Technology and International Differences in Growth Rates , 1994 .

[22]  W. Arthur,et al.  Increasing Returns and Path Dependence in the Economy , 1996 .

[23]  P. Cooke,et al.  The Creative Milieu: A Regional Perspective on Innovation , 1995 .

[24]  M. Feldman,et al.  R&D spillovers and the ge-ography of innovation and production , 1996 .

[25]  Produttività della R&S e propensione a brevettare: un'analisi dei brevetti , 1996 .

[26]  M. Malgarini,et al.  Regional specialization and shocks in Europe: Some evidence from regional data , 1996 .

[27]  Robert Tamura.  Regional economies and market integration , 1996 .

[28]  J. Fagerberg,et al.  Heading for Divergence? Regional Growth in Europe Reconsidered* , 1996 .

[29]  Stefano Usai,et al.  International patenting and national technological specialization , 1997 .

[30]  Francesco Pigliaru,et al.  European regional growth: do sectors matter? , 1997 .

[31]  Raffaele Paci.  More similar and less equal: Economic growth in the European regions , 1997 .

[32]  Spatial Distribution of Patents in Spain: Determining Factors and Consequences on Regional Development , 1997 .

[33]  Marjolein C. J. Caniëls.  The Geographic Distribution of Patents and Value Added Across European Regions , 1998 .

[34]  Z. Griliches.  Productivity, R&D, and the Data Constraint , 1998 .

[35]  Bart Verspagen,et al.  European 'regional clubs': do they exist, and where are they heading? On economic and technological differences between European regions , 1999 .