The Impact of Collaboration on Green Competitive Advantage in Europe’s Largest Petrochemical Cluster

Tim Jans, Elvira Haezendonck () and Alain Verbeke ()
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Tim Jans: Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
Elvira Haezendonck: Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)
Alain Verbeke: University of Calgary

Chapter Chapter 6 in Sustainable Port Clusters and Economic Development, 2018, pp 139-178 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract A large number of studies have looked into the impact of a firm’s localization in a geographical cluster. In one of the most well-known, Porter (Harvard Business Review 76: 77–90, 1998) explained that fierce competition within a cluster improves cluster firms’ performance. Folta et al. (Journal of Business Venturing 21: 217–242, 2006) looked at the impact of cluster size on cluster firms’ innovation rate, alliance partners and private investors. They found increasing individual performances until the cluster consisted of about 65 firms, after which the effect reversed. Decarolis and Deeds (Strategic Management Journal 20: 953–968, 1999) observed a positive link between cluster membership and the firm’s financial performance. Clusters are mostly considered as fruitful environments to generate competitive advantage because they increase productivity, stimulate innovation and attract new firms (Porter 1998, Economic Development Quarterly 14: 15–34, 2000; Marshall in Principles of economics. Macmillan, London, 1920). Other advantages of cluster membership are an increased likelihood that the firm internationalizes and, hence, results in higher international sales (Fernhaber et al. in The impact of geographic location on the internationalization of new ventures, 2003). However, Porter (1998) indicated that a cluster needs at least ten years to establish a certain depth and create a competitive advantage, indicating that potentially not all benefits are immediately and automatically generated.

Keywords: Geographical clusters; Competitive advantage; Benefits; Petrochemical cluster (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-96658-8_6

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