Title: Which clusters characteristics influence their governance? An appraisal of international cases

Authors: Michele Coletti; Paolo Landoni; Federico Frattini

Addresses: Management, Technologies and Strategies Department (MTS), Grenoble Ecole de Management, 38000 Grenoble, France ' Department of Management and Production Engineering (DIGEP), Politecnico di Torino, 10129 Turin, Italy ' School of Management, Politecnico di Milano, 20156 Milan, Italy

Abstract: Clusters have been the subject of many studies in the last three decades. They are important drivers of regional development and many have attempted to replicate the most successful ones. Most cluster policies are designed with a 'one-size-fits-all' approach and the outcomes have often been below expectations; we here argue that the basis for cluster policy should be cluster governance. In this paper, we develop a typology of cluster governance that builds on two cluster variables: (i) prevailing focus of the cluster, being it knowledge creation- or knowledge-exploitation oriented; (ii) the presence or absence of one or more leading organisation. The former factor influences the predominant activities conducted in the cluster, while the latter influences its structure. Using a dozen of international cases to illustrate our framework, we discuss their common characteristics and distinctive features of the resulting four macro-types of cluster governance and highlight implications for policy-makers.

Keywords: cluster governance; cluster policy; cluster initiatives; cluster characteristics; cluster leadership; cluster knowledge focus; regional development; innovation policy; technology clusters; business clusters.

DOI: 10.1504/IJC.2021.115548

International Journal of Competitiveness, 2021 Vol.2 No.1, pp.42 - 61

Received: 16 Dec 2019
Accepted: 06 Jan 2020
Published online: 08 Jun 2021 *

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