Fast-growing and key enabling technologies and their impact on regional growth in Europe

This paper studies the specialisation of EU regions in key enabling (KETs) and fast growing (FGTs) technologies and assesses whether being specialized in these technological areas has an effect on regional growth. The evidence presented shows that only a small share of KETs are also FGTs, although the degree of overlapping between KETs and FGTs varies substantially across different KETs fields. While there is evidence of some regional convergence in KETs and, to a less extent, in FGTs, spatial correlation increases over time, showing that diffusion often occurs across contiguous regions. Finally, the results of the estimations of the effects of KETs and FGTs on GDP per capita growth show that only specialisation in KETs affects regional economic growth, while no significant effects are found for FGTs. Overall, these results confirm the pervasive nature and enabling role of KETs pointing to the importance for European regions to target these technologies as part of their smart specialization strategies.