The potential technological advantage of European Union countries

Abstract

Aim: The paper discusses the issue of the potential technology advantages within two deliberately chosen groups of countries in the European Union. The main objectives of the research are: the identification of relative technological advantages in individual countries within the selected study group, and the assessment of the diversification of comparative technological advantages. Materials and methods: In order to achieve the defined scientific objectives The WIPO Technology Concordance Table and Balassa's Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) are used.The idea to formulate a scientific problem arose from the need to possibly make full use of knowledge hidden in patent statistics to examine the differentiated level of technological creativity, not only of the economy as a whole, but also each of its branches. Results: The principal findings of the analysis are: (1) technological advantages (and competences) are relatively stable over time, (2) technology leaders rarely change; in turn, in successive groups (quartile groups), there is great variability in the ranking of technological advantages, (3) microstructural technology and nanotechnology are the most specialized area of research and technological development in the EU. Conclusion: The level of development determines the number of developed specializations. In the areas of microstructural technology and nanotechnology the largest concentration is observed.