5.2. Structural determining factors linked to the field of science and technology
In the Basque Country it is worth pointing out scientific specialisation in physical sciences and engineering, and technological specialisation in mechanical engineering
The indicators in Table 16 show the territorial comparison in the field of scientific and technological specialisation, which have been analysed in detail in the section on specialisation. As regards publications, we can see that the reference regions and the EU-28 have similar areas of specialisation. The Basque Country coincides with the reference regions in having higher percentages of publications in mathematics and computer science, physical sciences and engineering, and social sciences and humanities, which are offset by lower percentages in biomedicine and health, and life and earth sciences. In the case of the reference regions, the differences with the EU-28 are quite small in all cases. In the case of the Basque Country, notable features include the strong specialisation in the physical sciences and engineering, and the underspecialisation (compared to the EU-28 and the reference regions) in biomedicine and health.
This technological specialisation of the Basque Country and the reference regions coincides in terms of their lesser specialisation (compared to the European average) in electronic engineering patents and a greater specialisation in mechanical engineering, with this underspecialisation and overspecialisation being more pronounced in the case of the Basque Country. The other fields of specialisation are quite similar in all territories. The Basque Country also coincides with the reference regions in having a more diversified portfolio of patents than the European average, as the concentration index for patents is lower than that of the EU-28.
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As we have seen in section 4.2.1 this specialisation may be skewed by the fact that it does not include publications from private universities or those of non-university actors..