Clusters are individuals - VDI/VDE-IT

1. INTRODUCTION
In economic and innovation policy the term „cluster“ is usually
used to explain geographical concentrations of economic
and innovation activities. According to Michael E. Porter “clusters
are geographic concentrations of interconnected companies
and institutions in a particular field” 1 that collaborate
and compete at the same time. According to this conventional
wisdom clusters support economic development through the
specialization of regions in activities within which companies
can gain higher productivity through accessing external economies
of scale or other comparative advantages. 2
Throughout the past 15 years clusters have gained more and
more importance as an element of economic development
and innovation strategies of the European Union and its Member
States. Owing to dedicated cluster policies of Member
States, particularly since the end of the 1990s, an increasing
number of business initiatives or top-class universities and research
institutes have been instrumental in the emergence of
strong clusters by acting as a catalyst and helping to unleash
the economic and scientific potential of particular regions.
However, the development of corresponding policies is still
an early stage, but it has gained momentum. 3 The European
Union highlights the relevance of clusters for maintaining
and further developing the global competitiveness of the
European economy. In 2006 the EU adopted its broad-based
innovation strategy and identified clusters as one of the nine
strategic priorities for successfully promoting innovation. 4
The analyses in this report challenge the conventional wisdom
of what drives economic development and innovation
activities within a cluster. Based on the largest international
analysis of its kind involving a simultaneous benchmarking
of more than 140 cluster organisations and of cluster policies
from nine European countries it is found that the economic
impacts of clusters depend on many factors not related to
the specialization of regions through the geographical concentration
of the cluster. Cluster management excellence
and the spectrum and frequency of business-related services
of the cluster organization are important determinants
for the impact of a cluster. The analyses of cluster organisations
and cluster policies also show many other determinants
for the development and characteristics of a cluster.
In the absence of a widely accepted definition of cluster
policy Christian Ketels defines cluster policy as all efforts by
1 Michael E. Porter, 1998: Clusters and the New Economics of Competition, in: Harvard Busi
ness Review, November 1998, p. 78
2 OECD, 2009: Clusters, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, p. 26
3 Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the Euro
pean Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: Towards world-
class clusters in the European Union: Implementing the broad-based innovation strategy,
COM (2008) 652 of 17.10.2008,
http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/innovation/policy/clusters/, p. 3
4 Ibid., p. 2
governments, alone or in collaboration with companies, universities
and others that are aimed at enhancing the competitiveness
of clusters. 5 This broad definition goes beyond
cluster funding programs and includes also policy measures
from other areas, such as tax and labor policies. Cluster policy
has be understood, planned and implemented as a structural
policy that changes the behavior of companies and institutions.
In this respect there are two opposing academic
understandings of cluster policy: One approach sees geographic
concentrations as the key policy lever. In this understanding
increased competitiveness will follow the geographic
concentration of relevant actors. Policy interventions
should therefore be focused on making a region attractive
for companies, e.g. through tax rebates or free infrastructure.
Another approach sees competitiveness as the key policy
lever. In this understanding increased competitiveness will
result in the geographic concentration of relevant actors as
the cluster becomes more attractive for new stakeholders.
Policy interventions should therefore be targeted on geographic
concentrations that have already passed the early
stages of development. As in these environments the fundamental
conditions for economic success are in place, collaboration
between relevant stakeholders should be supported
through policy interventions, e.g. funding. 6
In order to facilitate the discussion about cluster policy
through further insights into the characteristics of clusters
and cluster policy intervention, the Danish Ministry of Science,
Technology and Innovation, supported by the German
Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology and its national
cluster program “Initiative Kompetenznetze Deutschland”,
the Nordic Council of Ministers and the Nordic Innovation
Centre (NICe), has initiated the project „NGPExcellence
– Cluster Excellence in the Nordic Countries, Germany and
Poland“. The overall objective of this project is to contribute
to the development of outstanding clusters through excellent
management and excellent cluster programs.
Further partners in this project were VINNOVA (Sweden), Tillväxtverket
(Sweden), the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology
and Innovation (TEKES), the Finnish Ministry of Employment
and the Economy, Innovation Norway, the Icelandic
Centre for Research (RANNIS), Innovation Centre Iceland,
the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Infrastructure,
Transport and Technology (Germany) and the Polish Agency
for Enterprise Development (PARP).
The objective of this project is aligned with the work of the
European Cluster Policy Group that was formed by the Eu-
5 Christian Ketels, 2010: Cluster Policy: A Guide to the State of the Debate, in: Knowledge and
6 Ibid.
Economy, Springer Publishing, forthcoming
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