Patrick COHENDET

Patrick LLERENA

Arndt SORGE

TECHNOLOGICAL DIVERSITY AND COHERENCE IN EUROPE

AN ANALYTICAL OVERVIEW (i)

The Member States of the European Community show a number of differences with respect to scientific and technological activities and their economic and social impacts. Different Member States have different areas of comparative advantage in production (reflected in trade performances and productivity growth), in turn related to scientific and technological activities. These produce differences between Member States in wealth, in distribution, and in the rate of change. Such differences relate interactively to the complex of social, institutional, and regulatory conditions which characterize, and have characterized, different Member States.

The European market is generally presented as mainly a patchwork of national or even regional characteristics, with compartmentalized niches, and specific regulations. The regional and/or national path of economic and technological development has partially determined the parameters of the economic and social systems, and so the economic performences of firms, regions and nations.

The idea of European Integration means at least partially that the different countries should move towards higher homogeneity and a lower degree of diversity. A single market for Europe is equivalent to one of the largest markets in the world and in this way to economies of scale.

On the technological side, specific technologies have been developed in many countries, and too often without coordination. One of the results is the difficulty to transfer those technologies from one place to another. Those strategies were considered to protect "national interests", and often "national champions". More generally, there are different local modes of creation, usage and diffusion of new technologies and innovation processes are not only sectoral but also locally dependent.

REVUE D'ÉCONOMIE INDUSTRIELLE — n° 59, let trimestre 1992 9