Science-technology relatedness and regional diversification prospects: evidence from a developing country

Abstract

This article investigates whether technology and science-technology relatedness impact technological diversification in a developing country. To answer this question, data on patents and publications from Brazilian states between 2001 and 2020 were gathered, and a quantitative analysis, based on technology and science-technology relatedness was conducted. The results indicated that technology relatedness is crucial to understanding state technological diversification in almost all cases. Science-technology relatedness positively impacts Brazilian states’ technological diversification when the analysis focused exclusively on the technologies most closely associated with science. When the whole sample was considered, this impact was not statistically significant. This result may suggest that most Brazilian states are following a technological diversification path towards technologies weakly related to science, a mismatch between science and technology capabilities, and/or the weakness of channels that enable science and technology spillovers, a common feature of developing countries.