This paper aims to contribute to the identification of the key parameters of cluster life cycles. We assume that clusters are embedded in larger technological fields, so that the search for these parameters focuses on the way by which clusters could disconnect their cycle from the cycle of...

There is little understanding of how clusters evolve, and where. While dynamic analyses of clusters hardly exist, this is especially true for spatial clustering of service industries. We take an evolutionary perspective to describe and explain why the Dutch banking cluster clustered in the...

In this paper we try to identify manufacturing and service clusters in Spain, using data from Mercantile Registers of 2006. The proposed methodology partially follows contributions of Duranton and Overman (2005), Brenner (2003 and 2004) and Ellison and Glaser (1997), but departing from them we...

In recent times, there has been a renewed interest in cluster policies for supporting industrial and regional development. Prominent economics like Porter and Krugman emphasise the role of clusters in regional competition and show in which way clusters can positively affect competition by...

Regional development has been in the centre of interest among both academics but also decision makers in the central and local governments of many European countries. Identifying the key problems that regions face and considering how these findings could be effectively used as a basis for...

This paper seeks to contribute to the ongoing debate concerning the role of heterogeneity for the GC competitive advantage. With this aim, we focus on different sources of heterogeneity and study how the different level of heterogeneity affects the performance of GCs. Specifically, we consider...

Nowadays, globalization, technological innovation, migration and population ageing, make it increasingly difficult to predict the future of regions. Identifying the key problems that regions face and considering how these findings could be effectively used as a basis for planning region's...

The present contribution develops on the analysis of clusters in terms of proximities by exploring the issue of distant inter-cluster collaborations. We mobilize different forms of proximity (geographic, cognitive, social) discussed in the literature in order to identify their respective...