Analysis of the specialization patterns for scientific and industrial activities in the EU regions in the framework of the smart specialization strategy
- Autores: Ricard Esparza Masana
- Directores de la Tesis: Francesc Solé Parellada (dir. tes.)
- Lectura: En la Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) ( España ) en 2014
- Idioma: inglés
- Tribunal Calificador de la Tesis: Jaume Valls Passola (presid.), Josep Coll Bertrán (secret.), David Urbano Pulido (voc.)
- Materias:
- Enlaces
- Tesis en acceso abierto en: TDX
- Resumen
The thesis aims to provide a complete overview of the specialization trends of the EU regions in the context of the regional innovation smart specialization strategy (RIS3), as well as to evaluate whether some priorities can be identified form a top-down point of view, according to the preexisting patterns. RIS3 has become one of the main tools of the European Commission for the period 2014-2020 and it aims to promote more integration and efficiency in the European systems of innovation, asking all regions to define their strategies based on the establishment of some priorities in which a region can excel in front of the others, so it can develop cutting-edge innovation activities in those scientific fields and industrial sectors for which it presents a larger competitive advantage. Our work aims to evaluate up to which point a potential establishment of priorities from a top-down approach is possible given the preexisting specialization patterns in the EU regions, for both scientific and industrial activities. Additionally, we look to analyze the suitability of these trends in the framework of the regional smart specialization strategies that are being designed contemporaneously, contrasting the patterns to the structure of some regions, including their main institutions and activities. In chapter 1, we contextualize our study in the framework of the smart specialization strategy, we review the state of art of its associated concepts, and we present the objectives, research questions, propositions, and methodology of the thesis. In chapter 2, we analyze the specialization patterns of most of the EU regions, evaluating their activities in order to define comparative advantages leading to the establishment of priorities towards the strategy. In chapter 3, we present twelve brief case studies where we analyze in detail some of the largest regions (in absolute terms regarding their scientific / industrial activities), describing and studying their specialization patterns according to their main institutions and actors. In chapter 4, we examine thirty proposals presented by EU regions regarding their smart specialization strategies, aiming to evaluate up to which point these proposals match with the main goals of the policy when we consider it from a top-down approach. In chapter 5, we present our final remarks and deductions. Our main conclusions are centered in the fact that our analyses can prove that there are indeed specialization patterns in the EU regions, which allow policy makers to design strategies based on some top-down approaches when establishing regional priorities for science, technology, industry, and innovation in general. However, we also prove that these trends present many biases given the particular structure of the EU and its territories, and regional strategies must necessarily be more focused on integrating institutions and actors in the different regions to make them part of the whole system, not only in their area, but from an European perspective
