What drives the effectiveness of industrial clusters? Exploring the impact of contextual, structural and functioning determinants

Elisabeth F. Mueller and Carola Jungwirth

Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 2016, vol. 28, issue 5-6, 424-447

Abstract: This study examines how contextual, structural and functioning characteristics of industrial clusters influence their effectiveness. We develop a conceptual framework that identifies potential influencing factors, validate the factors statistically, and estimate the factors’ impact on cluster effectiveness. Our results show that among the important determinants of cluster effectiveness are long-term planning security and procedural trust among the cooperating firms (contextual conditions), formalized rules and sustainable structures (structural elements), and clear goals and tasks (functioning characteristics). However, the results also reveal that some determinants assessed as important in the literature do not seem to have a positive impact on effectiveness. Our results not only modify general assumptions in cluster research concerning the drivers of cluster effectiveness, but also assist firms and policy-makers in conceptualizing successful new clusters.

Date: 2016
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DOI: 10.1080/08985626.2016.1186748

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