Digitalisation in European regions: unravelling the impact of relatedness and complexity on digital technology adoption and productivity growth

Stefan Apostol; Eduardo Hernández-Rodríguez

doi:10.1080/13662716.2024.2423731

Digitalisation in European regions: unravelling the impact of relatedness and complexity on digital technology adoption and productivity growth

Stefan Apostol
, Eduardo Hernández-Rodríguez^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Geography of Innovation

University of Pécs Faculty of Business and Economics
Modul University Vienna

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Digital technologies are the cornerstone of platform, knowledge, and network economies, driving the interconnectedness, innovation, and efficiency that define these economic models. Consequently, digitalisation has recently become a key policy objective for regional economies. This paper provides empirical evidence on how the adoption of new digital web technologies is shaped by previous regional digital capabilities. The analysis is based upon an economic complexity and relatedness framework using novel data on digital web technologies’ adoption for 278 European NUTS-2 regions between the years 2000 and 2022. Results show that regions tend to adopt new digital web technologies when they already master related digital capabilities. This paper also shows how digital complexity is associated with labour productivity gains at the regional level. Conclusions shed light on how regions adopt digital web technologies and serve as a tool for policymakers.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	772-801
Number of pages	30
Journal	Industry and Innovation
Volume	32
Issue number	7
Early online date	7 Nov 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/13662716.2024.2423731
Publication status	Published - 2025

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Funding

This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement [No. 860887]. Views and opinions expressed are those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

Funders	Funder number
European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant	860887

Keywords

Digitalisation
economic complexity
European regions
productivity
relatedness

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10.1080/13662716.2024.2423731Licence: CC BY

Digitalisation in European regions unravelling the impact of relatedness and complexity on digital technology adoption and productivity growthFinal published version, 5.26 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Digitalisation in European regions: unravelling the impact of relatedness and complexity on digital technology adoption and productivity growth",

abstract = "Digital technologies are the cornerstone of platform, knowledge, and network economies, driving the interconnectedness, innovation, and efficiency that define these economic models. Consequently, digitalisation has recently become a key policy objective for regional economies. This paper provides empirical evidence on how the adoption of new digital web technologies is shaped by previous regional digital capabilities. The analysis is based upon an economic complexity and relatedness framework using novel data on digital web technologies{\textquoteright} adoption for 278 European NUTS-2 regions between the years 2000 and 2022. Results show that regions tend to adopt new digital web technologies when they already master related digital capabilities. This paper also shows how digital complexity is associated with labour productivity gains at the regional level. Conclusions shed light on how regions adopt digital web technologies and serve as a tool for policymakers.",

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Digitalisation in European regions: unravelling the impact of relatedness and complexity on digital technology adoption and productivity growth

Abstract

Bibliographical note

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Keywords

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