Innovation is highly concentrated in a few countries, and metropolitan areas are usually the places where most innovation activities take place. Agglomeration forces determine an environment with a large proportion of specialised workers, firms and capital, where ideas are easily exchanged and can lead to the creation of new goods and production processes. In 2008, 65% of all patent applications of the 16 OECD countries where data are available were granted in metropolitan areas (). The concentration of patents in metropolitan areas is high in top patenting countries such as Japan and the United States but also in France, the Netherlands, Spain and Denmark. On the other side, Finland, Norway and Italy displayed a lower share of patents granted by metropolitan areas, signalling innovation activities outside the capital areas of Helsinki (e.g. in Pirkanmaa and Pohjois-Pohjanmaa) and Oslo (e.g. in Rogaland, Hodaland and Sor-Trondelag) as well in medium-sized cities in northeast Italy.