“The automobile technological systems. An empirical analysis of four European countries”

The aim of this paper is to study the automobile industry of the largest European countries (France, Germany, Great Britain and Italy) from a sectoral, system perspective. The main relationships within and between the building blocks constituting the automobile technological system (TS) are mapped and evaluated. Some general sectoral properties emerge, which hold in the four countries to a different extent, thus suggesting how the institutional set-up works as a differentiating element. A varied process of change in the various elements of the automobile technological system is detected, which nevertheless results in a relatively stable path of development. The countries considered reveal different patterns of motor vehicles trade specialisation in different geographical areas, with changes over time. Also foreign direct investments show the existence of differentiated internationalisation patterns and outward/inward balances.