What holds a regional cluster together? The role of cluster actors’ identification and citizenship behavior for the effectiveness of a regional cluster

Abstract

Working across companies in regional clusters has become a common practice, but there is limited research on the socio-psychological processes that bind cluster actors. Therefore, this study investigates the factors that hold regional clusters and their actors together. We combine research on social identity theory and organizational citizenship behavior with cluster research to advance knowledge of identification processes and citizenship behaviors in regional clusters. The results of a survey of cluster actors in a sensor technology cluster in Germany show that not all antecedents of identification considered important in organizational contexts play a role in cluster actors’ identification with the cluster. Cluster distinctiveness, visible cluster affiliation, and group formation are relevant but cluster prestige and inter- and intra-cluster competition are not. The results also emphasize the importance of cluster identification for cluster actors’ willingness to exhibit citizenship behavior and the importance of these behaviors as predictors of sustained cluster effectiveness.