Knowledge Complexity and the Evolution of the Automotive Industry in Europe.

Technological complexity measures the extent of the technological diversification in the main fields of the standard scientific classification of the flows and stock of patents, held by each company, that is necessary to generate new technological knowledge. The paper investigates the relations between the technological complexity of the flow of patents delivered to the main European automobile companies and the evolution of their performances in terms of markets share. Technological complexity confirms to be animportant characteristic of private knowledge: i t exerts strong and positive effects on the competitive advantage of firms. Appropriate measures of technological complexity make it possible to qualify the quantitative measures of the technological competence of firms based upon patents counts.