Clusters and economic growth
Description
Spatial concentration (clustering) of sectors at both municipal and regional scales does not guarantee above-average economic growth in a region. This applies both to general local economic growth and to specific growth within sectors.
Clusters cannot be copied. they cannot be imposed or created by policy makers. Unique local conditions seem to determine the success of clusters; which is not a guarantee of success in other regions.
Background
Since the publication of Michael Porter's book The Competitive Advantage of Nations (1990), his cluster theory has been adopted in policy around the world. Central to this theory is the idea that physical clustering of companies within specialized growth sectors is a source of regional economic growth. The spatial proximity between these companies would stimulate learning processes and competition between them. One of the best-known examples of this is the concentration of the ICT sector in the American Silicon Valley.
The Dutch government is also encouraging the formation of regional clusters of growth sectors (or key areas) that are already doing relatively well (‘peaks in the delta’). But to what extent is it justified that governments attach so much value to the concept of clusters? In contrast to the boom in policy cluster applications, there is at least as much scientific skepticism. Does clustering of similar companies really lead to regional economic growth or does sectoral variety offer more opportunities for regional growth?
This study
In this study, we examine the link between the clustering of a number of sectors and regional economic growth. The sectors concerned are as follows: labour-intensive, capital-intensive and knowledge-intensive industry, transport and distribution and knowledge services, and the eight key areas identified by policymakers as key growth sectors for the Dutch economy: high-tech, logistics, chemistry, ICT, creative industries, financial and business services, horticulture and research and development in biotechnology. The degree of clustering is measured on the basis of the share of employment in the total economy of a municipality or a region.
Resources
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33 |
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https://data.groningen.nl/sites/default/files/open-data/clusters-econ-groei.pdf |
Tags
- economische-groei
- regionale-clusters
- nederlandse-economie