Clusters from the Inside and Out: Local Dynamics and Global Linkages

Abstract

This paper surveys some of the current methodologies employed to analyse cluster development, as well as some of the key themes emerging from both the analytical and prescriptive literature noted above. It uses this survey as the context in which to present a synthesis of the initial findings of the current national study of industrial clusters in Canada, conducted by the Innovation Systems Research Network. The national study comprises 26 cases which aim to identify the presence of significant concentrations of firms in the local economy and to understand the process by which these regional-industrial concentrations of economic activity are managing the transition to more knowledge-intensive forms of production. The central questions in each case are: What role do local institutions and actors play in fostering this transition? How important is interaction with non-local actors in this process? How dependent are local firms on unique local knowledge assets and what is the relative importance of local versus non-local knowledge flows between economic actors? How did each local industrial concentration evolve over time to reach its present state and what key events and decisions shaped its path? And, finally, to what extent do these processes, relationships and local capabilities constitute a true cluster? Ultimately, what are the key relationships, linkages and processes that ground the cluster in its existing location?