Action strategies for strengthening industrial clusters in southern Taiwan

Abstract

For the past decade, the Taiwanese government has applied the policy of “North heavy, South light” to put more emphasis on development in northern Taiwan instead of the south. This has resulted in uneven development between the northern and southern regions, especially when introducing, developing, and supporting high technology and resource allocation in education. Industry clusters have become the centerpiece of economic development policy in many parts of the world. In this study, it is assumed that there are two categories of less-advantaged regions in Taiwan: (1) older industrialized regions dominated by labor-intensive/capital-intensive industries, and (2) industrial regions that have merged with potential high-technology small firms but still lack infrastructure. This study discusses the following points: (a) How do industrial clusters work in action? (b) What barriers do less-advantaged industrial clusters face? (c) What action strategies promote less-advantaged industrial clusters?