The emergence of new technology-based sectors in European regions: A proximity-based analysis of nanotechnology

•We use patent data to investigate the emergence of new technology-based sectors in EU regions.•We focus on nanotechnology to check for the existence for a specific pattern.•We employ a “product-space” approach adapted to patent data.•The results support the idea that history matters in the spatial development of high-tech sectors.•Locally available competences shape the patterns of technological diversification. This paper analyzes the emergence of new technology-based sectors at the regional level focusing on nanotechnology, an infant technology whose evolution can be traced on the basis of patent application filings. We employ a methodological framework based on the ‘product-space’ approach, to investigate whether the development of new technologies is linked to the structure of the existing local knowledge base. We conduct a 15 EU country analysis at NUTS 2 level using patent data for 1986–2006. The results of the descriptive and econometric analysis support the idea that history matters in the spatial development of a sector, and that the technological competences accumulated at the local level are likely to shape the future patterns of technological diversification.