Understanding evolution in the Antwerp chemical cluster: the role of regional development strategies

Research on regional economic development increasingly embraces more nuanced perspectives on the evolution of clusters, industries and agglomerations. The extent to which the emergence and decline of clusters can be directed with intentional regional development strategies is, however, a major point of discussion. The article links the cluster life cycle concept to regional development strategies in order to examine the trajectory of Europe’s largest chemical complex in and around the Port of Antwerp (Belgium). This chemical cluster has matured and currently is in a state of stability. Although the cluster did not experience growth over the last decades in terms of new entrants, it did transform internally and maintained its importance as a production centre. Thus, whereas lock-in mechanisms hampered growth, they also prevented the cluster from going into a state of decline. We argue that while regional development strategies stimulated new emerging clusters in the Flemish region, vested interests in the port and associated lock-in mechanisms have resisted such developments in Antwerp. New growth trajectories based on the chemical cluster were therefore difficult to recreate in the Antwerp region.     

Regional Advantage of Cluster Development: A Case Study of the San Diego Biotechnology Cluster

The concept of “clusters” has become central to regional economic development strategies, especially in the high-technology and biotechnology industries. Numerous studies have examined the significance of industrial clusters and their components, but comparatively less attention has been directed towards understanding the roots and processes of industrial localization. In particular, emerging biotechnology clusters such as that in San Diego have not drawn adequate scholarly attention given their policy implications with regard to clustering and regional development. Based on in-depth interviews, historical archives and participatory observations, this paper examines how the San Diego biotechnology cluster emerged and grew into an entrepreneurial habitat that has nurtured hundreds of biotechnology companies that have produced a series of innovative products. The author suggests that the regional context of the existence of a number of small biotechnology companies rather than a group of large firms, a continuous flow of talent, and leadership that fosters collaborations have been critical in promoting knowledge creation, circulation and accumulation, which are essential to spawning startups. The regional advantage of San Diego in stimulating entrepreneurship and innovation lies in its edge in creating and exploiting knowledge and practices through its entrepreneurs' robust interactions and participation in local communities of practice.     

Clusters versus Cluster Initiatives,with Focus on the ICT Sector in Poland

The article focuses on the topic of clustering, which has become a popular concept, both from the academic and political perspective, and as an efficient business model. The distinction between clusters, understood as geographical concentrations of specific industries, and cluster initiatives, understood as more formalized actions undertaken by regional actors, is proposed. The primary objective of this study is to verify if these two types of structures are overlapping each other. This problem arises because the motivation for forming some cluster initiatives may be different economic policy instruments rather than existing market potential of a specific regional economy. The study finds that not all of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) cluster initiatives in Poland represent real concentration of ICT-related divisions included in statistical classification of economic activities in the European community Rev. 2 classification, as measured by location quotients (LQs) for indicators on employment, firms' incomes and number of enterprises. However, there is a visible pattern that the LQs are higher in smaller geographic areas (NUTS 4 (Nomenclature of units for territorial statistics)), which usually represent big cities, being the cores of cluster initiatives. The study also discusses the phenomenon of the internationalization of clusters and the value added to that process from forming formalized cluster initiatives, which create favourable institutional framework for transborder cooperation.     

Spatial Clustering and the Potential for Policy Practice: Experiences from Cluster-building Processes in Sweden

In the last decade, there has been an increased interest in the cluster approach as a regional development tool. Moreover, it has been increasingly acknowledged that TIME (Telekom, IT, Media and Entertainment) industries have come to be of great importance to the economy. This article sets out to examine the use of the cluster approach as an analytical tool as well as a proactive policy tool and an approach based on negotiated and collaborative efforts to manufacture and utilize 'visions' of regional development futures to good effect. Consequently, the intent is not to judge the economic performance of firms in the three case clusters but rather to demonstrate problems and prospects in regional TIME industry cluster-building.     

The Re-emergence of a Media Industry Cluster in Leipzig

This paper begins with the proposition that an analysis of the potentialities of industrial networks has to consider the wider context of the social organization of production. Recent work on industrial clustering has shown that successful clusters are embedded in tight networks of social relations between suppliers, producers, customers and institutions. Localized capabilities, such as specialized resources and skills, conventions and other local institutional structures, provide the basis for inter-firm cooperation. Based on Malmberg and Maskell's (2001) conceptualization of localized industrial clusters, I discuss the horizontal, vertical and institutional cluster dimensions as a basis for empirical analysis. In addition, attention will be drawn to the external dimension and power relations of a cluster which have a strong impact on its growth trajectory. This conceptualization is used as a basis for studying the new Leipzig media industry cluster. Leipzig, which is located in the Neue Länder (States of the former German Democratic Republic), has traditionally been a major centre of industrial production in Germany. After the German unification, a significant proportion of Leipzig's manufacturing activities were terminated or downsized. Interestingly, a new media cluster has developed during the 1990s, driven by the activities of the MDR (Middle German Television and Broadcasting Service). This has stimulated substantial start-up activities in branches of the media industry, such as film/TV production, new electronic services/interactive media, graphics/design, PR/marketing and media-related hardware/software. Being virtually the only sector which has grown in recent years, the media sector has stabilized the local economy. In this paper, I investigate those forces which have supported start-up and location decisions of media firms and the role of local institutions and policy programmes in the clustering process.     

Innovating in Cluster/Cluster as Innovation: The Case of the Biotechvalley Cluster Initiative

It has been noted that innovation seems to take place to a higher degree in clusters than elsewhere and we have lately seen a worldwide wave of emerging cluster initiatives and similar innovation policy projects. Some of these are realistic efforts based on existing regional strengths and partly existing cluster structures. Most, however, are grasping at straws. The latter is especially true when it comes to technologies such as IT and biotech. We could subsequently add a new label—“pathetic clusters”—to the already existing list of embryonic, emerging, world-class or stagnating clusters. But what do we make of such “pathetic clusters” (are they really pathetic)? Although economic geographers often tend to explain innovation (competitiveness) by looking at cluster dynamics, in such accounts, the cluster concept itself can actually function as an innovation, imposing similar effects on the economy as more familiar types of innovation would, i.e. by creating a local competitive edge. It is reasonable to believe that if “pathetic clusters” play important roles in regional economies, then they do so in the form of social and organizational innovations rather than as Porterian drivers of innovation and industrial dynamics on a large scale. This function of the cluster concept—as a local innovation—is the focus of the paper at hand.     

Putting Porter into Practice? Practices of Regional Cluster Building: Evidence from Sweden

In the last decade there has been an increased interest in the cluster approach as a tool for boosting regional competitiveness. In this article practices and processes of regional cluster building in Sweden are examined in order to better understand the key traits that seem to be common to successful regional cluster initiatives. It is argued that regional cluster building may be formed through long running policy processes that are crucially constituted by public and private actors' collective vision of what cluster policy involves and what a cluster can look like. Results from a study of 13 cluster initiatives in Sweden are presented. Out of these, four key examples are presented in detail to illustrate four distinct 'models' of cluster approaches that emerged: (a) industry-led initiatives to build competitiveness and competence within an existing base; (b) top-down public policy exercises in brand-building; (c) visionary projects to produce an industry cluster from 'thin air'; (d) small scale, geographically dispersed, natural resource based, temporal clusters that link or dip into global rather than national systems, sources of innovation and competitive advantage. The article closes with the presentation of a checklist of some common elements that successful cluster initiatives in Sweden have shared. It is hoped that they may trigger further research or be useful to policy-makers working in the area. It is concluded that though many questions and problems persist over the use of the cluster-approach it can be a useful tool for regional development.     

Seeing Eye-to-eye: How do Public and Private Sector Views of a Biotech Cluster and its Cluster Initiative Differ?

As clusters have developed from an analytical concept into a key policy tool, numerous cluster initiatives, or collaborative organizations designed to enhance the competitiveness of clusters, have been implemented across the globe. However, while research on clusters is abundant, research specifically focusing on these emerging organizations is scant to date. This paper analyzes one such cluster initiative and its cluster, and in particular examines to what degree the public and private sectors (1) have the same understanding of the cluster's competitiveness and underlying strengths and weaknesses and (2) what activities the cluster initiative should conduct.     

Adjustment or renewal in regional clusters? A study of diversification amongst SMEs in the Aberdeen oil complex

A renewed interest in the spatial clustering or agglomeration of economic activity is evident within economic geography and related fields. This paper considers processes of change within 'mature' regional clusters, developing a conceptual framework which links firm-level strategies to development scenarios at the cluster level through a set of intervening mechanisms. Whange, enabling the cluster to sustain its prosperity, and adjustment which is associated with stagnation and gradual decline. This conceptual framework is applied to an analysis of one key mechanism of change, diversification, as pursued by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Aberdeen oil cluster. Our analysis indicates that some diversification is occurring, with the implications for the cluster lying midway between adjustment and renewal. In conclusion, we emphasize the need to assess and 'unpack' the clusters concept and suggest that research should focus on the relationships between proximity, learning and evolution.     

Enterprise Clusters and Industrial Districts in Colombia's Fashion Sector†

This paper presents the theory of enterprise clusters and industrial districts, and contrasts it with the evidence of two productive agglomerations in the fashion sector in Colombia. The empirical evidence on Bucaramanga and Medellín, that host the largest groups of Colombian textile and clothing producers and exporters, is based on a survey questionnaire, carried out in November–December 1998. The results of the survey confirm the relevance of the Industrial district concept in understanding the recent developments of Colombia's textile and garments industry, and reveal the presence of some dimensions of an enterprise cluster in both Medellín and Bucaramanga, although each with different characteristics. However, both Colombian clusters are characterized by a low degree of firm–level specialization and poorly–developed enterprise networks. This is similar to what has been observed in most enterprise clusters in Latin America, and may clearly hinder the local external economies and collective efficiency. Backward linkages are poor or lacking in both clusters. The strategy prevailing in most enterprises has been the internalization of many stages of the productive process. Forward linkages are much stronger, and the retailers play a crucial role in the commercial phases. However, only Bucaramanga firms have entered global production and marketing networks, whereas Medellín firms are mainly oriented to the national market. Moreover, the two clusters have developed under very different economic policy regimes, and this had had its consequences on the clusters' performance and structure.     

社会资本影响区域经济增长的机理:基于"织网"模型的分析

社会资本对区域经济增长的影响是通过对区内企业、产业集群及区域整体等三个不同主体的影响发挥作用的。在企业由传统成长模式向网络化成长模式转变,产业集群由聚集经济向创新网络转变,区域由空闻结构向网络社会转变的过程中,社会网络及内含资源起着决定性作用。社会资本对三者的作用体现空间上的层次递进特征,即依循企业、集群、区域三个不同主体网络化递进发展的“织网模型”,依次由“发散状企业网络”向“经纬状集群网络”再向“多构面区域网络”发展的织网过程。社会资本及社会网络对企业的作用是摄取关键资源、信息等;对产业集群的影响是建立学习与创新机制、成本节约机制、形成合作竞争氛围;而对区域的积极意义是保持区域良好的信任文化。     

Supporting ‘Film Cultural Peripheries’? The dilemmas of regional film policy in Norway

Public funding is crucial for the small Norwegian film industry. Based on an analysis of policy documents and interviews with regional film workers, this article discusses the implementation of regional film policy in Norway, and the tensions it has caused between center and periphery with respect to the allocation of funding. The creative industries discourse and the cluster concept are important for understanding this implementation; despite the new regional film policies the capital Oslo remains the undisputed hub of film production, and low production volume is still a challenge for the regions. Size, the article explains, is not only central when discussing Oslo as compared to the regions, but has also become a contentious issue within the regions. A key concern for the government, the article suggests, is how to create strong film milieus all over the country, which may entail the risk of spreading funding too thinly across the regions, resulting in a fragmented industry.     

知识密集型服务机构(KIBS)嵌入视角的集群企业成长实证研究框架

通过构建"知识密集型服务机构(KIBS)嵌入-集群网络结构-集群企业成长"的概念模型,本文分别对两阶段模型即"KIBS嵌入-集群网络结构"、"集群网络结构-知识能力-集群企业成长"进行深入理论分析,揭示了KIBS嵌入对集群企业成长的作用机制。     

文化与创意产业集群的研究谱系和前沿:走向文化生态隐喻?

文章基于文献研究,梳理文化和创意产业集群的研究谱系,指出该领域学术界:①没有将文化和创意产业本体论知识整合到集群分析框架;②对艺术家和创意阶层及其项目生产方式、知识流的空间过程关注十分薄弱;③忽视文化消费和中介因素对创意集群和文化生产的反身性;④比较偏向生产型创意集群的研究、忽视空间型创意集群和消费型文化产业园区和城市空间的研究;⑤在研究方法上相对单一。作者提出通过运用文化生态系统隐喻,进一步展开综合研究的可能性。     

The rise of the Indo-Pacific: understanding ideational change and continuity in India's foreign policy

In 2011, the concept of the Indo-Pacific began to appear in India's foreign policy discourse. This article argues that rather than signalling a dramatic shift in India's foreign policy, however, the way in which the Indo-Pacific has been interpreted by the Indian leadership suggests significant continuity as well as change, which is contrary to the goals of the concept's most fervent proponents in India. The article seeks to develop a framework for understanding ideational change and continuity in foreign policy by theorising the interplay between ideas, political and economic flux, and social expectations related to effective and legitimate state-building. It is argued that the Indo-Pacific concept has instigated a new emphasis on regional architecture-building to manage the ongoing regionalisation in the area between the Indian and Pacific Oceans as a result of heightened trade flows and production and investment linkages. Yet, the Indo-Pacific concept, like the new policy ideas on regional engagement that preceded it—the Look East policy and the ‘extended neighbourhood’—has been articulated in ways that are also compatible with long-standing ideas—such as non-alignment—about what constitutes appropriate international behaviour. This reflects the nature of the broader state project that has emerged since 1990, which, while encompassing a new focus on economic growth and competitiveness as being essential to effective state-building, continues to prioritise older ideas about what constitutes effective and legitimate state-building.     

Innovation,knowledge and relations – on the role of clusters for firms’ innovativeness

ABSTRACT

For more than two decades, theories on regional clusters have inspired economic and structural policies at the European, national and regional levels. Based on the assumption that clusters generate innovation, policy-makers at all levels of governance have adopted instruments and mechanisms to stimulate, resource and sustain clusters. Despite the considerable attention paid to the clustering phenomenon, empirical evidence on to what extent firms’ innovation activities benefit from operating in clusters is scarce and inconclusive. This paper contributes to the micro-foundation of clustering effects by examining the characteristics and activities of cluster firms in relation to their innovativeness. Bridging innovation, management and cluster theories, it is argued that structural and relational embeddedness, relational capital and absorptive capacity influence clustered firms' innovativeness. Partial least-squares structural equation modelling of data from 104 firms in two software and information technology service sector clusters reveals that firms’ structural embeddedness (i.e. frequency of interactions) in clusters and external networks facilitates innovation cooperation. Firms’ absorptive capacity reinforces this positive effect of cluster-internal interactions on innovation cooperation. Results also suggest a substitution effect of trust as relational control mechanisms for formal control mechanisms within the cluster. However, the study finds no significant impact of firms’ innovation cooperation within the cluster (i.e. relational embeddedness) on their innovation success.     

产业集群理论的争论、困惑与评论

产业集群理论是近年来在学术界及政策界影响较大的理论之一。但产业集群理论仍是发展中的理论,在国外有很大的争论。本文介绍了西方学者对产业集群的争论,重点分析了产业集群空间界限及划分、产业集群与产业演化及区域发展、产业集群与全球化及产业政策方面存在的问题,在此基础上,进行了理论评述。     

Multi-level Science Policy and Regional Innovation: The Case of the Munich Cluster for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology

Knowledge-based industries tend to develop within regional or local clusters that allow for knowledge spillovers, the generation of a critical mass of complementary competencies and skills as for spatial proximity to academic organizations out of which many highly innovative firms have been founded. The prototype of that development certainly is the biotechnology industry which has emerged since the 1970s first in the US where especially small and medium-sized research companies have been established around leading science bases. Following the example of the US biotechnology industry, public policies in many industrialized countries aimed at stimulating cluster formation in biotechnology. This holds true especially for member states of the European Union (EU) where public policy initiatives have been initiated at different territorial levels. This article refers to the Munich pharmaceutical biotechnology cluster and applies institutional and organizational indicators that have been developed in various systemic analyses of technological development and innovation. It will be shown that reforms of the institutional environment in which the innovative organizations are embedded were crucial for the commercialization of biotechnological research in Germany. These reforms have occurred mostly at the regional and national level, whereas the EU played a role especially in establishing the regulatory framework for the biotechnology industry. Organizational indicators will be applied in order to assess the modes of knowledge production within the cluster.     

产业集群的识别与选择分析——基于陕西省产业集群的研究

产业集群现已成为发展区域经济和增强区域竞争力最有效的途径之一。然而,如何识别和选择产业集群则是困扰决策者和研究者的主要技术问题。本文在分析国内外产业集群相关研究方法的基础上,以陕西省为例,综合应用LQ法和基于投入产出表的主成分分析法,尝试性地进行了区域产业集群的识别与选择研究,结论显示LQ法和基于投入产出表的主成分分析法可以很好地体现产业集群的"空间联系"和"功能联系"。     

BEYOND THE GPN–NEW REGIONALISM DIVIDE IN CHINA: RESTRUCTURING THE CLOTHING INDUSTRY,REMAKING THE WENZHOU MODEL

This article attempts to advance the research on industrial districts and regional development through a study of the restructuring of the clothing industry in Wenzhou Municipality, a regional driver of the Chinese economy. Wenzhou is known for the Wenzhou model of development traditionally centred on family‐owned small businesses embedded in local institutions. The clothing industry is one of the leading industries in Wenzhou, and a cluster with national significance has emerged, where most of the production components can be purchased locally. However, the industry has been scaled up nationally and internationally, with the expansion of sales networks and production facilities across China, and to a lesser extent, abroad. This restructuring has changed the endogenous nature of industrial clusters/districts. The restructuring challenges the orthodox notion of the Wenzhou model and the New Regionalism literature, particularly the orthodox notion of Marshallian industrial districts that overly emphasizes small firms and local assets, and the global production network perspective that highlights coupling with global lead firms in regional development.