As a result, regions holding the greatest concentrations of innovative sectors tend to outperform other regions in terms of employment and overall economic growth. Connectivity constraints and (more frequently) the weak absorptive capacities of individuals and firms located in these regions hamper adoption of new technologies and innovations produced elsewhere. For instance, firms located in northern regions of Sweden have been found to have more limited access to finance compared to those in the south of the country (Inlandsinnovation AB, 2014). At the European level, for instance, innovation capacities are particularly high in Denmark, Finland, Germany and Sweden, and relatively low in eastern and southern European countries - and that gap does not seem to be narrowing (Veugelers, 2016).