New indicators of related diversification applied to smart specialization in European regions. Issue 4 (2nd October 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Santoalha, Artur
• Is Part Of: Spatial economic analysis. Volume 14:Issue 4(2019)
• Page Start: 404
• Page End: 424
• Publication Date: 2019-10-02
• Subjects: Smart Specialization -- related diversification -- patents -- European regions; O33 -- R58; Space in economics -- Periodicals; Economic geography -- Periodicals; Space in economics -- Econometric models -- Periodicals; Urbanization -- Periodicals; Espace (Économie politique) -- Périodiques; Économétrie -- Périodiques; Géographie économique -- Périodiques; Économie industrielle -- Périodiques; Économie du travail -- Périodiques; Économie urbaine -- Périodiques; Politique économique -- Périodiques; Relations économiques internationales -- Périodiques; 330.9
• DOI: 10.1080/17421772.2019.1584328
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1742-1772

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This paper proposes two new indicators of related diversification applied to Smart Specialization. The indicators are useful monitoring tools to assess the initial conditions and evolution of the European regions (NUTS-2) regarding one of the orienting principles of Smart Specialization: relatedness. The first indicator ranks regions quantitatively in a given year concerning related variety of specializations; and the second indicator captures to what extent regions acquire, over time, new specializations in related areas. These indexes use the concept of technological relatedness, and are applied to the case of European regions using the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) REGPAT database. The results indicate that regions located at the core of the European continent, as well as Northern European regions, perform better, whereas Southern and Eastern Europe persistently exhibit lower scores.