Identifying nanotechnological linkages in the Finnish economy – an explorative study

Abstract

In this paper the focus is on identifying the technological linkages between the Finnish nanotechnology community and the large established companies. These linkages represent potential diffusion paths for nanotechnology. The technological linkages are first observed at a broader level in comparison with the technological strengths of the Finnish industries, and then in more detail at the level of companies. In addition, the absorptive capacity of the established companies is discussed to illustrate their ability to take advantage of external sources of knowledge. The descriptive analysis shows that the R&D activities of the Finnish nano-community are connected to the technological specialisation of Finnish industry in broader sense and that there are potential technological linkages to various industrial sectors, both in ‘low-tech’ and ‘high-tech’ areas. Further, the larger established companies with potential connections to nanotechnology are characterised by a higher level of absorptive capacity.

Keywords:

• nanotechnology
• general purpose technology
• technology diffusion
• technology life cycle
• absorptive capacity

Acknowledgements

Funding by the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation (Tekes) and the Technology Industries of Finland Centennial Foundation is kindly acknowledged. I wish to thank Christopher Palmberg for valuable comments and Mika Pajarinen for help with the data. In addition I thank two anonymous referees for their important comments.