The geography of Industry 4.0 technologies across European regions

Abstract

This paper investigates the spatial distribution of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) considering both region- and technology-specific factors. Focusing on patent data for four technologies at the core of I4.0 between 2000 and 2014, we provide evidence of their uneven distribution across NUTS-2 European regions. Our analysis confirms the role of regional absorptive capacity, cognitive and spatial proximity as drivers of I4.0 knowledge flows, but also indicates important variations among these technologies. Cumulated technological capabilities and spatial proximity exert a stronger effect on the diffusion of robots and 3D printing, whereas big data and the Internet of Things tend to be more spatially distributed.