Commercial archaeology in Spain: a sectoral system of innovation?

The publication of the Spanish Heritage Act of 1985, and the development of the construction sector (especially large infrastructure) during the first decade of the 21st century have been the major factors to trigger the rise of commercial archeology in Spain. The objective of this work is to characterize this emerging sector. We analyze the learning, interaction and innovation mechanisms between various actors, verifying whether the approach of sectoral systems of innovation and production can contribute to understanding industry dynamics and future developments, especially when the contextual conditions that led to the inception of this sector do not exist anymore. The lack of systematic data about the sector led to the search of a variety of sources to develop a companies' database. The empirical study on the 273 registered companies was carried out in 2009. Results obtained in the study show the emergence of a sector composed of a great number of micro and small companies, whose employees are both, high skilled and have a strong focus on their local markets. This fact can be regarded as a consequence of the regulations the companies are subject to. Cooperation between the companies mentioned and other actors inside the system is high, and the interaction among them shows specific characteristics, significantly different from the ones observed in the rest of professional scientific and technical business activities. The future of the sector will largely depend on its ability to increasing the size of its companies, and to diversify and expand to other markets.