Straccamore Matteo, Bruno Matteo, Tacchella Andrea
Centro Ricerche Enrico Fermi (CREF), Rome, Italy.
Sony Computer Science Laboratories Rome, Joint Initiative CREF-Sony, Centro Ricerche Enrico Fermi, Rome, Italy.
PLoS One. 2025 Aug 13;20(8):e0329746. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0329746. eCollection 2025.
Debates over the trade-offs between specialization and diversification have long intrigued scholars and policymakers. Specialization can amplify an economy by concentrating on core strengths, while diversification reduces vulnerability by distributing investments across multiple sectors. In this paper, we use patent data and the framework of Economic Complexity to investigate how the degree of technological specialization and diversification affects economic development at different scales: metropolitan areas, regions and countries. We examine two Economic Complexity indicators. Technological Fitness assesses an economic player's ability to diversify and generate sophisticated technologies, while Technological Coherence quantifies the degree of specialization by measuring the similarity among technologies within an economic player's portfolio. Our results indicate that a high degree of Technological Coherence is associated with increased economic growth only at the metropolitan area level, while its impact turns negative at larger scales. In contrast, Technological Fitness shows a U-shaped relationship with a positive effect in metropolitan areas, a negative influence at the regional level, and again a positive effect at the national level. These findings underscore the complex interplay between technological specialization and diversification across geographical scales. Understanding these distinctions can inform policymakers and stakeholders in developing tailored strategies for technological advancement and economic growth.
关于专业化与多元化之间权衡取舍的争论长期以来一直吸引着学者和政策制定者。专业化可以通过专注于核心优势来扩大经济规模，而多元化则通过在多个部门分散投资来降低脆弱性。在本文中，我们使用专利数据和经济复杂性框架来研究技术专业化和多元化程度如何在不同规模上影响经济发展：大都市地区、区域和国家。我们考察了两个经济复杂性指标。技术适应性评估一个经济体多样化和产生复杂技术的能力，而技术连贯性则通过衡量一个经济体的技术组合中各项技术之间的相似性来量化专业化程度。我们的结果表明，高度的技术连贯性仅在大都市地区层面与经济增长的增加相关，而在更大规模上其影响则变为负面。相比之下，技术适应性呈现出一种U形关系，在大都市地区有积极影响，在区域层面有负面影响，而在国家层面又有积极影响。这些发现强调了技术专业化和多元化在不同地理尺度上的复杂相互作用。理解这些差异可以为政策制定者和利益相关者制定量身定制的技术进步和经济增长战略提供参考。
