Why Catalonia cannot be considered as a regional innovation system

We present a model to assess the systemness of an innovation system. Patent and citation datawith an institutional address in Catalonia (1986-1996) were analyzed in terms of relationallinkages and the development in these distributions over time was evaluated using methods fromsystems dynamics. Relational linkages are extremely scarce. A transition at the system's levelcould be indicated around 1990 when using institutional addresses, but not when using cognitivecategories. The institutional restructuring has led to changes in the pattern of linkages(coauthorship, etc.), but the reproduction of the system's knowledge base has remaineddifferentiated. We conclude that although a system in several other respects, Catalonia cannot(yet) be considered as a (knowledge-based) innovation system. The existence of a mechanism forthe integration could not be indicated at the regional level.