TECHNOLOGY AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT: THE CASE OF PATENTS AND FIRM LOCATION IN THE SPANISH MEDICAL INSTRUMENTS INDUSTRY.



employment in the medical equipment industry. The rest of Spanish manufacturing
companies are evenly distributed among other provinces.

Table 1. The Spanish medical equipment industry in figures

1993

1995

1998

MED

IND

MED

IND

MED

IND

Sales by employee___________________

8,059

15,680

8,972

19,829

10,830

22,825

Investment by employee_____________

317

759

353

870

473

1,089

Number of employees by company

7.0

14.9

7.5

15.6

7.7

15.7

% of firms with less than 20 employees

n.d.

n.d.

93.1

87.4

94.8

86.6

Hourly employee cost________________

1,409

1,897

1,477

1,983

1,564

2,116

Cost by employee___________________

2,492

3,312

2,611

3,467

2,790

3,721

% employees in total industry__________

0.38

100

0.36

100

0.42

100

% sales in total industry________________

0.19

100

0.16

100

0.20

100

Notes: MED □ Medical equipment industry; IND □ Total Spanish Industry. Economic figures in
national currency (thousand), n.a. □ not available

Source: Spanish Industrial Survey. National Institute of Statistics.

Table 2. Province distribution of companies and employment in the Spanish medical equipment
industry______________________________________________________________________________

Spanish province

No. manufacturers

%

Employees

%

Barcelona________

231_________

48.7

6,804

53.8

Madrid_________

133_________

28.0

3,258

25.7

Valencia_________

_______26_________

5.5

_______542

4.3

Asturias__________

__________8__________

1.6

_______120

0.9

Alicante__________

_________7__________

1.5

_______227

1.8

Navarra__________

_________7__________

1.5

_______174

1.3

Guipuzcoa_______

_________6__________

________1.2

_______268

2.1

Sevilla_____________

_________6__________

________1.2

_______152

1.2

Gerona__________

_________5__________

_________1.1

_______273

2.2

Vizcaya_________

_________5__________

_________1.1

_______100

0.8

Other provinces

_______40_________

8.6

_______730

7.1

Total_____________

474_________

100.0

12,648

100.0

Source: Own elaboration

However the degree of spatial concentration of medical equipment manufacturers is
even greater when only the ‘hiDtech’ products are considered (Table 3) because all were
located in Madrid or Barcelona. Even when the analysis includes the main and most
used medical equipment such as monitoring or diagnosis, the degree of spatial
concentration of manufacturers in Madrid is over 50% in most equipments and more
than 30% in Barcelona. With the exception of the Community of Valencia, the other
provinces must rely on distributors and sales representatives to buy medical
equipments.

Table 3. Province distribution of manufacturers and commercial firms of ‘high tech’ medical equipment

Manufacturers

Distributors

Importers

Services

I Madrid         ~

___________6

____________8

_________10

___________1



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