Title: Government support for the development of regional food clusters: evidence from Alberta, Canada

Authors: Bodo E. Steiner, Jolene Ali

Addresses: Department of Rural Economy, University of Alberta, 525 General Services Building, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2H1, Canada. ' 109. 10903 – 23rd Ave., Edmonton, AB, T6J 1X3, Canada

Abstract: This paper analyses government support for networking and regional cluster growth in the food sector. It is, to the best of our knowledge, the first paper to provide a literature review of studies on regional food clusters, focusing on key features that characterise successful regional food clusters. The review compares key characteristics of such clusters with characteristics of clusters from other industrial sectors. The insights from these studies on clustering success and the role of government are contrasted with empirical evidence on government support for clustering in the Canadian food sector, specifically in the province of Alberta. The empirical evidence is based on two small industry surveys, one conducted in March 2005, and the second in August 2009. Considering this empirical evidence, we have little support for an emerging food (innovation) cluster in Alberta, and little evidence for effective government support toward food cluster development in Alberta.

Keywords: location based clustering; food clusters; networks; innovation; government support; Alberta; Canada; regional clusters; regional development.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIRD.2011.038924

International Journal of Innovation and Regional Development, 2011 Vol.3 No.2, pp.186 - 216

Published online: 29 Nov 2014 *

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