The role of co-inventorship in the high-tech sector. Diversity and specialisation from a network perspective

Abstract

This study addresses the role of diversity and specialisation in the hightech sector of three European countries by analysing patent inventor networks. These networks were identified using EPO data and reflect the intensity of patenting cooperation between the NUTS 2 regions of Germany, France and Italy. Starting from this database we explore the role of intra- and interregional connections in determining the patenting intensity and the diversity of the regions. The results show that the regions in question rely more on interregional links: The average share of such links is around 70% of the sample. Another analysis suggests that in the whole high-tech sector there exists an inverse U-shaped relationship between the share of intraregional connections and the patenting activity: Those regions seem to show the highest level of patenting which have an optimal mixture of inter- and intraregional relationships. Neither a narrow intraregional nor a narrow extraregional focus is favorable in this respect. Further examination reveals that, in a longitudinal perspective, a positive relationship can be found with regard to the relation of diversity and intraregional focus. Those regions seem to exhibit a wider area of patenting activity (i.e. more diversity) which have a higher share of intraregional links. More specialised regions, on the other hand, tend to rely more on interregional links. The analysis also shows that there is a special role for large metropolitan areas. The regions of Munich, Paris, Berlin, Lyon, etc. are the most prominent ones in the group with high diversity and intraregional focus of links. This result corroborates the theory behind Jacobs externalities according to which dense local interactions provide the main driving force behind diverse innovative activity. On the other hand it is also shown that specialised regions tend to rely on ‘global pipelines’ rather than dense local interactions.