Industrial Districts/Clusters and Smart Specialisation Policies

Fiorenza Belussi () and Michaela Trippl
Additional contact information
Fiorenza Belussi: Padua University
Michaela Trippl: Vienna University

A chapter in Agglomeration and Firm Performance, 2018, pp 283-308 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract Industrial districts and clusters are of utmost importance for economic growth and innovation in the European Union (EU). In this chapter, we analyse how smart specialisation policies have worked in different region types, combining cluster policies with smart specialisation ideas. Our study selects a sample of EU regions that differs strongly in terms of geography, size, socioeconomic dynamics, innovation capacities, and governance settings. Two key components of the strategy development phase deserved particular attention, that is, stakeholder inclusion and policy prioritisation. The cases selected are grouped into three main region types: advanced, intermediate, and less-developed regions. The empirical results suggest that advanced regions are in the best position to develop inclusive governance forms and to benefit from smart specialisation strategies. Intermediate regions also perform quite well with respect to the development of smart specialisation strategies, coping with stakeholder involvement, planning capabilities, and the capacity to prioritise a set of clusters and sectors. In contrast, in less-developed regions, weak innovation systems, insufficient experience with regionalised innovation policies, and high levels of state centralisation have undermined smart specialisation processes.

Keywords: Cluster industrial policies; Path dependent growth; New path creation; Smart policies; Industrial districts; Clusters (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:adspcp:978-3-319-90575-4_16

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/9783319905754

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-90575-4_16

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Advances in Spatial Science from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().