Title: Clusters and sustainable development: a systematic literature review

Authors: Federica Belfanti; Fernando G. Alberti

Addresses: Institute for Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness, LIUC Università Cattaneo, Corso Matteotti 22, 21053, Castellanza (VA), Italy ' Institute for Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness, LIUC Università Cattaneo, Corso Matteotti 22, 21053, Castellanza (VA), Italy

Abstract: Clusters have been widely recognised, in both academic and policy-oriented literature, as catalysts and supporters of the transition toward social and environmental sustainability. However, connections between the two topics are still not so precise and remains scattered. This paper aims at identifying and depict a landscape of the scientific literature on clusters and sustainable development, through a systematic literature review based on a keyword cooccurrence analysis. Following rigorous selection and screening processes, a total of 245 significant papers were selected for analysis from Scopus database. Findings reveals an increasing interest toward these topics by the academic community and identifies five key research streams, as well as literature gaps opening the way to further research opportunities. This study offers a comprehensive overview of the main insights on which firms, policy makers and institutional intermediaries need to focus in order to allow a real transition towards a more sustainable, cluster-based economy.

Keywords: cluster; sustainable development; sustainability; creating shared value; CSV; creating shared value; green economy; corporate social responsibility; CSR; corporate social responsibility; competitiveness; systematic literature review; cooccurrence analysis.

DOI: 10.1504/IJC.2022.125756

International Journal of Competitiveness, 2022 Vol.2 No.2, pp.137 - 159

Received: 23 Nov 2021
Accepted: 29 Nov 2021
Published online: 27 Sep 2022 *

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