The Question of Clusters in Lagging Regions: Do They Really Make the Difference? A Case Study in Romania

Abstract

In the last few decades clusters have become a very attractive concept for economic practice: they are approached as a key source of competitive advantage, mainly in connection with their capacity to be critical drivers of innovation which is heavily concentrated from a geographical viewpoint. As argued by the European Cluster Memorandum (European Cluster Alliance, 2007), clusters stimulate the emergence of new ideas in networks of cooperating business firms and institutions, lowering the barriers for transforming new ideas into businesses. In line with this overall orientation the strong cluster support offered by the EU has been conceived in tight relation to those cohesion policy programmes aiming at fostering regional innovation and knowledge-based networks. Indeed, in the last two decades there has been shown to be enormous concern with growth based on science and innovation, with a special emphasis on technology-intensive activities. Nevertheless, the``obsession with high-tech industries'' (Trippl, 2010, page 193) has begun to encounter sharp criticism by several authorsöthe idea that medium-tech and low-tech industries could also be innovative and could provide substantial impulse to regional growth is getting more attention (

Are vertical linkages promoting the creation of a mining cluster in Chile? An analysis of the SMEs' practices along the supply chain

“…Many of these regions are specialized in mature sectors and have followed an exogenous strategy to promote the creation of clusters (Constantin et al, 2011;Lee et al, 2009;Phelps, 2008). In this respect, many scholars have raised doubts about the quality of knowledge that is transferred by MNCs and the ability of these regions to become clusters (Phelps, 2008(Phelps, , 2009.…”

“…In this paper, we focused on the case of peripheral regions from developing countries that have received large quantities of foreign direct investment (FDI), where large MNCs are established and where the local network of SMEs still presents medium to low levels of competitiveness and reduced cognitive and organizational proximity to MNCs (Boschma, 2005). Many of these regions are specialized in mature sectors and have followed an exogenous strategy to promote the creation of clusters (Constantin et al, 2011;Lee et al, 2009;Phelps, 2008). In this respect, many scholars have raised doubts about the quality of knowledge that is transferred by MNCs and the ability of these regions to become clusters (Phelps, 2008(Phelps, , 2009.…”

“…Considering this position, however, contributes to understand to what extend cluster policies in peripheral regions that depend on multinational companies (MNCs) and specialized in mature sectors spill over the whole network of suppliers (Constantin et al, 2011) and favors economic sustainability. In this context, it is plausible to expect that the practices of enterprises to survive and grow differ according to the characteristics of the sector they belong to and the type of clients to which they relate.…”

“…The analysis of best practices in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) often considers those firms as isolated production units and ignores the regional context in which they operate and the position they occupy in the network of productive relationships in a region. Considering this position, however, contributes to understand to what extend cluster policies in peripheral regions that depend on multinational companies (MNCs) and specialized in mature sectors spill over the whole network of suppliers (Constantin et al, 2011) and favors economic sustainability. In this context, it is plausible to expect that the practices of enterprises to survive and grow differ according to the characteristics of the sector they belong to and the type of clients to which they relate.…”

Global and local governance, industrial and geographical dynamics: A tale of two clusters

“…The role of local governance has also been indirectly addressed in connection with related issues such as industrial district (Dunford and Greco, 2006), local production system (Rodríguez-Pose, 2001), and regional innovation system (Doloreux and Parto, 2005). Empirical studies have also explicitly emphasized the importance of local governance in shaping the economic success of regions and entrepreneurs in clusters (Champenois, 2012; Chen, 2014; Clarke and Ramirez, 2014; Constantin et al., 2011; Feldman et al., 2005).…”