ABSTRACT : Nanotechnology, as an emerging science-based technology, is seen to have great potential both in scientific as well as economic terms. In this paper the focus is on identifying the technological linkages between the Finnish nanotechnology community and the industrial incumbents. These technological link-ages are first observed at a broader level in comparison with the technological strengths of the Finnish industries, and then in greater detail at the level of companies. In addition, the absorptive capacity of the incumbents 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 linked up to the technological specialisation of Finnish industry in broader sense and that there are potential technological linkages to various industrial sectors. Further, the nano-related incumbents are characterised by a higher level of absorptive capacity. The conclusion is that nanotechnology is connected to traditional and ‘high-tech’ industries. The nano-related incumbents might also exhibit an ability to utilise external sources of knowledge, and can possibly provide commercialisation paths for the smaller nano-dedicated companies. The future will tell whether the incumbent companies will play a key role in the commercialisation of nanotechnology in Finland.
Download Info
To download:
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the
proper application to
view it first. Information about this may be contained
in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read
the IDEAS help
file. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS
site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
Publisher Info
Paper provided by The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy in its series Discussion Papers with number
1101.
References listed on IDEAS Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
Cited by: (explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)