Wirkierman Ciarli Savona_EconPol.pdf (5.72 MB)
A taxonomy of European innovation clubs
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-10, 06:08 authored by Ariel L Wirkierman, Tommaso CiarliTommaso Ciarli, Maria SavonaMaria SavonaThe paper provides a novel, empirically grounded map of innovation ‘clubs’ in the EU, based on a unique analysis of micro-aggregated, country-level data. Using exploratory factor analysis we articulate innovation variables in a taxonomy of four ‘latent’ innovation theories: Network-Innovation-System, Kaldorian, New-Growth-Theory, and Schumpeterian. We then characterise clusters of countries (‘clubs’), based on their performance against this taxonomy, and design a new map of EU innovation clubs. We identify an articulated map of EU innovation hierarchy beyond the rather well-known ‘core-periphery’ structure, and interpret how some of the peripheries are functional to the ‘consolidated core’ of innovative countries, raising an issue of long-term sustainability of such hierarchies. We also find that even the most innovative clusters show concerning weaknesses. The strongest cluster in terms of its innovation system does not seem to exploit its full potential and lags behind with respect to radical product innovations. Instead, the leading cluster in terms of radical product innovations is strongly dependent on external innovative activity, is focused on scale-intensive sectors, and has a fairly weak innovation system. The periphery of small countries that show a healthy network structure, do so because they mainly include supplier-dominated firms, reliant on innovation inputs from the core. We offer some reflections on innovation policy within a broader view of EU cohesion.
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- Published
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- Published version
Journal
Economia PoliticaISSN
1120-2890Publisher
SpringerExternal DOI
Department affiliated with
- SPRU - Science Policy Research Unit Publications
Full text available
- Yes
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2023-02-01First Open Access (FOA) Date
2023-02-01First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2023-02-01Usage metrics
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