ABSTRACT
We have shown in previous chapters that the pattern of MNC networks for innovation conforms to an internal (within national boundaries) hierarchy of regional centres. In this chapter, the empirical analysis of the evolution over time of both technological capacity and sectoral specialisation of different European regional centres provides support for our hypothesis that a geographical hierarchy of regional locations can also be established across national boundaries in the European Union area. We test statistically the extent of stability in the sectoral profiles of technological specialisation of the major regional centres in Europe, and examine what changes have occurred in these profiles between the 1970s and the 1990s.
