Regional Food Clusters and Government Support for Clustering: Evidence for a ‘Dynamic Food Innovation Cluster’ in Alberta, Canada?

Bodo Steiner and Jolene Ali

No 99705, Staff Paper Series from University of Alberta, Department of Resource Economics and Environmental Sociology

Abstract: This paper analyzes government support for networking and regional cluster growth in the food sector. It is, to the best of our knowledge, the first paper to provide a literature review of studies on regional food clusters, focusing on key features that characterize successful regional food clusters. The review compares key characteristics of such clusters with characteristics of clusters from other industrial sectors. The insights from these studies on clustering success and the role of government are contrasted with empirical evidence on government support for clustering in the Canadian food sector, specifically in the province of Alberta. The empirical evidence is based on two small industry surveys, one conducted in March 2005, and the second in August 2009. Considering this empirical evidence, we have little support for an emerging food (innovation) cluster in Alberta, and little evidence for effective government support toward food cluster development in Alberta.

Keywords: Industrial Organization; Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 43
Date: 2009
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Working Paper: Regional food clusters and government support for clustering: Evidence for a ‘dynamic food innovation cluster’ in Alberta, Canada? (2009)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:ualbsp:99705

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.99705

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