Geographical distribution and regional specialization of knowledge-intensive business services: An empirical investigation across european regions

Abstract

This chapter is aimed at investigating both geographical concentration and regional specialization in KIBS during the last years. Specifically, this chapter focuses on European regions and seeks (a) to identify the location of KIBS, (b) to investigate regional specialization profiles in KIBS and (c) to shed light on the variables driving the location of KIBS. Results on spatial concentration show a process of spatial dispersion between 1995 and 2007 that is modified afterwards due to the economic crisis. Furthermore, the data also reveal important differences in terms of regional specialization for each category of KIBS. Finally, our analyses confirm the existence of significant influences of several variables related to economies of agglomeration and accessibility to clients and knowledge resources on regional specialization in KIBS across European regions, as stated by the previous literature.