The emergence of new technology-based sectors in European regions: A proximity-based analysis of nanotechnology

tThis paper analyzes the emergence of new technology-based sectors at the regional level focusing onnanotechnology, an infant technology whose evolution can be traced on the basis of patent applicationfilings. We employ a methodological framework based on the ‘product-space’ approach, to investigatewhether the development of new technologies is linked to the structure of the existing local knowledgebase. We conduct a 15 EU country analysis at NUTS 2 level using patent data for 1986–2006. The results ofthe descriptive and econometric analysis support the idea that history matters in the spatial developmentof a sector, and that the technological competences accumulated at the local level are likely to shape thefuture patterns of technological diversification.