Abstract
The business environment in transition countries is often extraordinarily challenging for companies. The transition process these countries find themselves in leads to constant changes in the institutional environment. Hence, institutional voids prevail. These institutional voids cause competitive disadvantages for small and medium enterprises. Cluster policy can address these competitive disadvantages. As cluster policy generally aims at supporting companies’ competitive advantage by spurring innovation and productivity, it can help to bridge institutional voids. This article’s research question aims at analyzing and comparing cluster policies in the institutional context of two transition countries (Serbia and Tunisia) and analyzes to what extent cluster policies in these two countries are adapted to institutional voids prevailing there. The case studies offer insights into apparent difficulties of clusters in bridging formal institutional voids, as well as, notably, into the informal void of skill mismatches in the labor market. Still, for some specific voids, clusters do at least implicitly assume a bridging role. While the cluster policies examined do not explicitly target the institutional voids identified, cluster management can—in the course of time—align its service offering more closely with these voids. Bottom-up designed cluster policies can play an especially important role in such an evolution towards bridging institutional voids.
Highlights
Companies in transition countries often find their business environment extraordinarily challenging.The transition process itself creates constant changes in the institutional environment due to the ongoing adaption of the institutional environment from one system to another.These instabilities in the institutional environment lead to institutional voids as systems are established and laws are promulgated
By addressing some issues related to institutional voids and cluster policies in Tunisia and Serbia, we intend to contribute to a refinement of the notion for transition economies and to contribute to the literature on institutional economic geography [5,6]
While such a methodology cannot claim to answer all questions related to the role of clusters in bridging institutional voids completely and precisely, it offers the chance to connect macro-level research on the transitional state of the Tunisian political and economic system with meso-level conclusions drawn from available research on cluster policy in the same national context
Summary
Companies in transition countries often find their business environment extraordinarily challenging. The cluster policies of these countries are analyzed with regard to their specific approach towards existing institutional voids. The notion of institutional voids can serve as a powerful lens to analyze and develop cluster policies in transition countries. By addressing some issues related to institutional voids and cluster policies in Tunisia and Serbia, we intend to contribute to a refinement of the notion for transition economies and to contribute to the literature on institutional economic geography [5,6].
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