GLOBAL INVENTORIES OF CLUSTERS

3. Literature review on cluster theory and practice

Nearly two decades have elapsed since Porter stressed the importance of clusters in his Competitive Advantage of Nations 1990, but a virtual explosion of activities and initiatives echoing his ideas is still happening in our day. Van der Linde 2003 notes the ever-growing importance attributed to clusters in the media 409 articles containing the term “industry cluster” in 2001 versus 27 articles in 1993 and in the economic development literature, which has been flooded with studies of cluster initiatives taking place in at least 39 countries. The present paper does not review this entire body of literature, but focuses on the most relevant to gain insight into the different models used to analyse clusters as well as to promote ACs in developing countries. It lists the major research efforts on cluster characteristics and cluster initiatives undertaken since 2000, differentiating between those addressed to developed, transition or developing economies.

3.1 GLOBAL INVENTORIES OF CLUSTERS

Many efforts have been made to compile the wealth of information on clusters. One of the most important is the inventory of clusters by the Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness at Harvard Business School, known as the Cluster Meta-Study 8 . This study has compiled information on 833 clusters from 49 nations, of which 24 are developing countries. It examines several features of clusters, the reasons behind their competitiveness or their lack of it, and patterns of evolution over time. Another major effort is the Cluster Initiative Greenbook Sölvell et al., 2003, which gathers information from more than 250 cluster initiatives around the globe. Based on the analysis of the extensive data collected, the Greenbook has developed a useful tool to analyse clusters: the Cluster Initiative Performance Model CIPM, which evaluates four components of cluster initiatives: settings, objectives, performance and process of development Figure 2. Another inventory initiative is The Global Competitiveness Report, which presents comparative data on overall cluster strength for 75 countries including some developing countries Porter and Schwab, 2002. In addition, some developed countries, such as the United States, the United Kingdom and Sweden, have conducted mapping exercises of clusters across their entire territory. For instance, the Cluster Competitiveness Study by Harvard Business School has assembled a 8 www.isc.hbs.edu detailed picture of clusters of industries in the United States 9 . Likewise, the Swedish study has identified 38 industry cluster categories in Sweden, which are described with regard to employment and growth in recent years Sölvell et al., 2008, and the United Kingdom study has drawn up a detailed inventory of clusters across all sectors of the country Porter and Ketels, 2003. On top of this, the European Commission convened in 2002 an expert group on enterprise clusters and networks, which reviewed national cluster mapping exercises undertaken in 13 European countries and gathered data on cluster-specific characteristics from 84 clusters from 20 countries 10 European Commission, 2002a.

3.2 GAPS IDENTIFIED IN GLOBAL CLUSTER STUDIES