The Persistence of Regional Disparities in Italy Through the Lens of the EU Nanotechnology Network

The knowledge-based economy has created new opportunities for marginal regions, even though some areas in advanced economies still show unbalanced development patterns. This article uses the Italian partnerships created within the nanotechnology projects funded under the European Union’s Sixth (FP6) and Seventh (FP7) Framework Programmes to assess the spatial relationships and verify the impact of innovation dynamics on regional re-industrialization processes in the country. It shows the presence of centralized networks that have reinforced the polarization in innovation activities in the traditionally most advanced areas of the country and reveals how new high-technology industries – such as nanotechnology – are hardly a means for marginal regions to break away from their development paths.