Regional Industrial Clusters Research Articles

Investment Priorities for Technological Breakthroughs Based on Scale Effect

The article presents an analytical approach to calculating the value of technological scale effect in regional industry clusters using econometric models. This approach allows for the identification of production zones in Russia with the highest technological potential. The authors propose a method for calculating investments based on the traditional investment multiplier. This method enables rapid technological advancements in specific regional and sectoral clusters within the country. The methodology has been tested on two groups related to the agricultural sector: the main group and the control group, each consisting of seven territorial entities of the Russian Federation. The article also discusses the implementation of a selective investment policy to foster economic growth and enhance the performance of existing advanced industries.

Research on the Coupling Relationship between Professional Clusters and Industrial Clusters in the Pearl River Delta Region of China

The development of education should serve the needs of economic and social development by providing high‐quality and appropriate professionals for economic development. Recently, the implementation of Double High Plan has provided many opportunities for the cultivation of high‐level professional groups. In the process of professional group construction, the extent of coupling between the level of professional group construction and the level of regional economic clusters is an important evaluation. This work is based on the list of proposed projects for the construction of high‐level professional clusters in Guangdong Province between 2019 and 2021. This list is issued by the department of education of Guangdong Province. The quantitative indicators and coupling models are established to estimate the degree of coupling between the construction of professional clusters in 9 prefecture‐level cities located in the Pearl River Delta region and the level of regional industrial clusters. The results presented in this work show that the professional cluster construction and industrial construction level of four prefecture‐level cities, including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan, and Dongguan, achieve coordinated development, while the remaining areas are mostly in transformation and integration stages. This is because the development level of industrial clusters has surpassed the construction of professional clusters in universities, resulting in a mismatch between talent cultivation and the requirements of economic development. This mismatch is manifested in three aspects. First, the supply and demand do not align in terms of the scale of professional groups and industrial clusters. Second, insufficient integration of professional clusters and industrial clusters. Finally, this mismatch is evident in imbalanced resource allocation. The fit between the setting of professional clusters and the structure of industrial clusters is not high. Based on the aforementioned analysis, this work presents suggestions for promoting the integration of industry and education and school‐enterprise cooperation among universities in the Pearl River Delta region. This will eventually enhance the construction of high‐level professional groups in the Pearl River Delta region and result in coordinated economic and social development.

Strategic management of the agricultural sector's competitiveness: development of cluster structures

The article examines the possibility of developing a strategy for managing the agricultural sector's competitiveness based on cluster structure development. The existing research on this topic was analyzed, and the possibilities of clustering the agricultural sector in martial law conditions were studied. It is emphasized that in the conditions of hostilities, coordination of efforts between agricultural enterprises, authorities, local communities, and other interested parties becomes essential to ensure the stability and development of the agricultural sector; in particular, the development of cluster structures can help in increasing the resistance of agriculture to the impact of the conflict, by increasing production efficiency, diversification of sales markets, reduction of dependence on external supplies, etc. A structural-logical diagram of the strategy of managing the agricultural sector's competitiveness based on the development of cluster structures is proposed, which includes the prerequisites, main stages, and results of the clustering of the national agricultural sector. Prerequisites for the successful development of cluster structures include creating a favorable institutional environment, developing innovative infrastructure, supporting education and personnel development, creating conditions for cooperation between industry entities, and attracting investment. The general strategy of managing the competitiveness of the agricultural sector based on the development of cluster structures includes the following key stages: 1) analysis and identification of promising territories and industries; 2) initiation of cluster creation; 3) strategic planning of the cluster; 4) development and implementation of a pilot project; 5) development and implementation of strategic projects. The results of strategic management of the agricultural sector's competitiveness through the development of cluster structures can be multifaceted and include increasing productivity, improving product quality, increasing competitiveness, promoting innovation, developing regional industry clusters, and creating a favorable investment climate. In general, this strategy contributes to increasing the competitiveness of the agricultural sector and the sustainable development of rural areas. Keywords: strategic competitiveness management, agricultural sector, cluster, clusterization, cluster structures, agricultural enterprises.

Network Position and Firms’ Exploration Strategies: A Study of Two Regional Industry Clusters in Norway

Management research has examined environmental and organizational antecedents for firms’ exploration. We complement this research by applying a network perspective to explain how firms adjust exploration strategies based on their interorganizational network positions. We particularly focus on two network constructs, closeness centrality and local cohesion. Closeness centrality captures a firm’s independent access to network knowledge and resources, and local cohesion reveals the connections between a focal firm’s associates. Combining network and survey data for 64 firms in two Norwegian regional industry clusters reveals exploration strategies’ association with network position. The positive effect of local cohesion is stronger than closeness centrality’s. Our findings indicate that network drivers act as antecedents of exploration.

Study on the Establishment of Symbiotic Mechanism between Wenzhou Vocational Colleges and Regional Industrial Clusters

Wenzhou's industry-university-research system suffers from poor matching of resource supply and demand, inefficient symbiosis model and insufficient support from the external policy environment, presenting a symbiotic state of "biased symbiosis-intermittent symbiosis". The suggestions for optimization are to build a symbiotic model based on the compatibility of quality and quantity of resources, the integration of industry-university-research, and a two-way incentive policy environment for the integration of education and industry.

Production Scheduling of Regional Industrial Clusters Based on Customization Oriented Smart Garment Ecosystem

This paper presents the Smart Garment Ecosystem (SG-ECO) and enriches the garment customization production scheduling model theory. On the basis of SG-ECO, the author designs a regional collaborative production alliance (RCPA) based on the idea of collaborative production management and then establishes a flexible production scheduling model (FPSM) that is oriented to the RCPA model under multiple constraints and aims to maximize weighted cost savings. The RCPA model and research on FPSM can enrich the theoretical system of production scheduling research to a certain extent and provide new ideas for the latter's research on customized production scheduling. Although the calculation example proves that the genetic algorithm based on double-layer integer coding (DIC-GA) can effectively solve the FPSM problem, the feasible solution space of the algorithm increases when the order size increases, and the number of iterations and search time required gradually increase. An improved genetic algorithm with double-layer integer coding for processes and workshops is designed, which can not only ensure that each chromosome is a legal individual but also reduce the complexity of the algorithm. The crossover operation and compilation operation are designed based on the coding method to ensure that the genetic operations in the algorithm can produce feasible solutions.

CLUSTER AS THE BASIS FOR THE SUSTAINABLE FUNCTIONING OF ENTERPRISES IN THE AGRO-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX

Objective. This article is devoted to the analysis of the concept of an agro-industrial cluster and the development of recommendations for improving competitiveness in the agro-industrial complex.
 Materials and methods. The research methodology is based on the collection and analysis of initial data and information. The article uses a systematic approach to the study of socio-economic processes and phenomena. The study is based on modern theories of competition, innovation, as well as the modern paradigm of the cluster development of the economy.
 Results. The conducted research makes a certain contribution to the development of theoretical science. A model of the structure of a regional industrial agricultural cluster is proposed. Practical recommendations can be used by economic and state authorities, heads of agricultural organizations, peasant (farm) enterprises, LPH.
 Conclusion. It is concluded that the characteristic features of the cluster and the effects arising in it increase the competitiveness of both individual members of the cluster and the cluster as a whole, and the competitiveness of the region in which the cluster is located, which, in turn, leads to an increase in the competitiveness of the national economy.

Adapting Regional Clusters to Globalization and Crisis: The Role of Internal and External Linkages in Cluster Evolution, with a Focus on Tourism Clusters

In response to crisis threats and the challenges of globalization and informatization, processes oriented toward a system of internal or external linkages are taking place in regional industry clusters (clusters). Strategies directed at networks of connections within the region do not protect against the threat of isolation, which implies negative externalities of the network and the danger of crisis. Strategies based on the construction of foreign ties, associated with the relocation of selected elements of the value chain (so-called selective relocation), allow avoiding isolation and reaping positive network effects.

Research on the Influence of Regional Industrial Cluster and Regional Economy Based on ANN-RBF Algorithm - Take Shanghai, China as an example

The scientific planning of urban future space layout improves the quality of the regional economy for the city's future development and has important guiding significance. Taking Shanghai as an example, this paper first quantifies the regional industrial cluster and regional economy, then constructs the artificial neural network-radial basis function (ANN-RBF) algorithm and sets the algorithm test index. Based on data collection, RBF is used for contribution analysis to explore the impact of regional industrial clusters on regional economic indicators in Shanghai, China. The results show that the ratio of foreign investment (11.4%), the percentage of the tertiary industry's added value to the secondary industry's (10%) to the regional economy of Shanghai, China is more prominent than the other indicators. The scientific and technological achievements, energy consumption per unit of GDP, and electricity consumption accounted relatively small. This paper's significance is conducive to analyzing the correlation between regional economic and industrial cluster indicators in Shanghai, China.

Research on Industrial Clusters and Regional Economic Impact in Underdeveloped Regions Based on ANN-MLP algorithm

The industrial cluster is an important source of regional competitiveness and a powerful carrier of regional economic growth. This paper firstly constructs the index system of regional industrial clusters and regional economy, uses artificial neural network-multi-layer perceptron (ANN-MLP) algorithm for contribution analysis, and uses mean square error (MSE) and coefficient of determination (R2) as the algorithm test index, and finally takes Jiangxi province as an example to empirically study the impact of industrial clusters and regional economy in less developed regions. The research results show that the model has high accuracy, when the parameter MSE is 2259314 and R2 is 0.969. Through this research, this paper can help managers make correct decisions and promote economic development. Industrial clusters can drive economic growth, and regional economies can bring more benefits to industrial clusters.

The relationship between a ‘polluter pays’ approach to carbon capture, regional policy and ‘just transition’ employment agendas

ABSTRACT Policy makers in a number of nations are currently developing carbon capture and storage (CCS) as an industrial decarbonisation solution, linking capture potential in industry clusters to domestic or overseas offshore storage capacity. However, the design, focus and timeframe for policy support are proving challenging in countries like the UK, where industry actors are concerned about the competitiveness implications of additional operational capital costs, while government aims to offer only transitory policy support. Policy-facing research is required to understand the drivers, nature and extent of potential competitiveness loss from adopting carbon capture in specific industry and country contexts, along with the impacts of policy decisions in other countries and of possible future technology improvements. We consider the case of the UK chemicals industry, using an economy-wide computable general equilibrium (CGE) model. This highlights how macroeconomic and sectoral impacts of concern under regional, industry and climate policy agendas depend on domestic and export demand responses to changing industry prices. A crucial question is whether capture costs are similarly reflected in international prices. We identify a risk of policy commitment to ‘polluter pays’ having sustained negative outcomes for capture firms, along with offshoring/leakage of jobs and GDP, and associated emissions, as demand shifts to lower cost overseas production. However, such costs could be reduced, and some capture industry gains realised, if competitors in other nations ultimately follow in bearing similar costs and particularly if ‘early mover’ action enables firms to make efficiency gains and build comparative advantage in operational carbon capture. Key policy insights A ‘polluter pays’ approach to industrial carbon capture risks triggering potential ‘offshoring’ of manufacturing activity in all timeframes where increased operational costs reduce the relative competitiveness of capture firms. A border tax risks worse industry and wider economy outcomes, where domestic production is intensive in imports of the commodity in question. Transitory policy support should focus on enabling capture firms to build efficiency in using carbon capture equipment while sustaining competitiveness and jobs within regional industry clusters. Opportunities should be explored to develop comparative advantage where policy activity involves ‘early mover’ action on carbon capture.

Enabling collaborative dynamic capabilities in strategic communities: Firm- vs. network-centric perspectives

AbstractThis conceptual paper focuses on the importance of extending thecollaborative dynamic capabilities(C-DCs) view and its emphasis on the boundary spanningstrategic communities(SCs) fromfirm-centric to thenetwork-centric perspective. The C-DC view is an original theoretical perspective that offers a good explanation of corporate-level transformations in the context of cross-sectoral convergence. Although the focus of prevailing research on large firms as cornerstones of SCs is valid, it does not fully capture the more complex dynamics that take in the horizontal networks of firms. We show that C-DC and SC theoretical perspectives can be adapted to the context of regional industrial clusters and contribute to their strategic renewal. The paper conceptualizes the different challenges and nature of leadership that prevail in SC-based firms networks. It also presents the different enabling aspects of collaborative DCs (with regard to trust building, co-specialization and capability synthesis) in firm- vs. network-centric environments.

The role of the hub-firm in developing innovation capabilities: considering the French wine industry cluster from a resource orchestration lens

PurposeThis paper explores how hub-firms in a regional industrial cluster orchestrate resources to enhance the innovation capabilities of member firms and how this role changes as innovation projects develop. The work advances our understanding of how innovation-oriented clusters can drive the collaboration process, support the development of member capabilities and achieve desired outcomes.Design/methodology/approachThe research utilises exploratory case studies within an innovation cluster, where a hub-firm brings together different players for specific innovation projects. Using resource orchestration theory, the paper analyses six project cases to reveal the shifting roles and activities related to structuring, bundling and leveraging different resources for innovation capabilities particularly associated with improved quality and reputation for the firms and region.FindingsThe study reveals the important role played by the cluster hub-firm in structuring, bundling and leveraging resources to create and fund project teams. After project formation, a team member takes the role of an orchestrator to bundle further and then leverage the resources to achieve desired outcomes for the team and the region.Research limitations/implicationsThis work focuses on a wine industry but has implications for the success orchestration of other regional industrial clusters. Also, the lack of hub-firm interaction during the project process provides an opportunity to consider mechanisms for better guidance of the project team.Practical implicationsThere are implications for practitioners for participating in and further improving the collaborative innovative process.Social implicationsPolicymakers can benefit from the study as the required practices for stimulating innovation capabilities and economic development in a region are discussed.Originality/valueThis research enhances understanding of the hub-firm's role in a regional cluster not only in orchestrating resources to create collaborative innovation projects but how the role shifts over time.

Steel manufacturing clusters in a hydrogen economy – Simulation of changes in location and vertical integration of steel production in Northwestern Europe

With the move to a hydrogen-based primary steel production envisioned for the near future in Europe, existing regional industrial clusters loose major assets. Such a restructuring of industries may result in a new geographical distribution of the steel industry and also to another quality of vertical integration at sites. Both implications could turn out as drivers or barriers to invest in new technologies and are thus important in respect to vertical integration of sites and to regional policy. This paper describes an approach to model production stock invest for the steel industries in North-Western Europe. Current spatial structures are reproduced with capacity, technical and energy efficiency data on the level of single facilities like blast furnaces. With the model developed both investments in specific technologies and at specific production sites can be modelled. The model is used to simulate different possible future scenarios. The case with a clear move to hydrogen-based production is compared to a reference scenario without technological shift. The scenarios show that existing trends like movement of production to the coast may be accelerated by the new technology but that sites in the hinterland can also adapt to a hydrogen economy. Possible effects of business cycles or a circular economy on regional value chains are explored with a Monte-Carlo analysis.

Logistics approach to organizing ethno-economic industrial clusters (сase of the Tuva Republic)

One of the main branches of economy in Tuva republic is cattle breeding which has developed historically on the basis of Tuva’s geographical position, climate and environmental conditions and centuries-old experience of Tuvinian population. Ethno-economic custom of Tuvinian people together with the governmental support lay the groundwork for the development of regional industrial clusters such as the DUK project (processing of sheep wool and goat hair) and the KESH project (currying of animal skins). In order to raise marketability and promote industrial development on the whole, it seems reasonable to organize groups of manufacturing clusters in the region, which would unite factories dealing with processing of raw materials supplied by traditional ethnic households. The aim of this work is to define optimal geographical coordinates for manufacturing facilities taking into account the location of raw material suppliers, to the effect of minimizing transportation costs. The authors suggest a mathematic model of optimal economic space layout on the basis of the development of traditional industrial system. Cluster analysis apparatus was used as well as logistic approach to formation of production and distribution network taking into account the existing transport infrastructure. Calculations were made using the example of organization and development of Tuvinian light industry cluster based on traditional for this region branch of economy, sheep breeding

Evaluation of regional industrial cluster innovation capability based on particle swarm clustering algorithm and multi-objective optimization

With the progress of the times and the development of science, industrial clusters have been regarded by all countries in the world as one of the important ways to enhance regional competitiveness, and become an inevitable trend of industrial development. The research on the innovation ability of industrial clusters can not only maintain sustainable development of industrial clusters and obtain sustained competitive advantages, but also provide reference for the government's policy formulation of industrial clusters. This paper aims to study the evaluation of regional industrial clusters' innovation capability based on particle swarm clustering and multi-objective optimization. This paper uses the theory of industrial cluster innovation and takes regional industrial system as the empirical research object to establish a regional industrial system capability evaluation system, which is based on the selection of indicators, combined with analytic hierarchy process and factor analysis to evaluate industrial innovation capability. On this basis, the particle swarm clustering theory is used to verify the innovation ability and evaluation index system of industrial clusters, and provide a reference for the evaluation of the innovation ability of industrial clusters. This paper divides the regional cluster innovation capability into four aspects: innovation input capability, environment support capability, self-development capability and innovation output capability, and systematically analyzes the key elements and in the composition of innovation elements and their relationships. It then constructs the evaluation index system of regional cluster innovation capability. At the same time, this paper introduces clustering analysis algorithm and swarm intelligence algorithm into regional innovation evaluation, combines particle swarm optimization algorithm and K-means clustering algorithm, and optimizes particle swarm clustering algorithm by adjusting adaptive parameters and adding fitness variance. The experimental results of this paper show that from the results of the tested innovation potential of the three industrial clusters, industrial cluster F has the strongest innovation ability, with an evaluation coefficient of 0.851, followed by industrial cluster F, which has a value of 0.623. This result is consistent with the actual innovation status of the selected industry. From this point of view, the established particle swarm clustering model for evaluating the innovation capability of regional industrial clusters is reliable and can be used to evaluate the innovation capability of different industrial clusters.

Could a new Scottish CO2 transport and storage industry deliver employment multiplier and other wider economy benefits to the UK economy?

In 2021, the UK Government commenced a ‘cluster sequencing’ initiative to identify early movers in delivering carbon transport and storage (T&S) services to proximate regional industry clusters with capture potential. A Scottish proposition focussed primarily on linking the Grangemouth industry cluster to North Sea storage, and the potential to transition Oil and Gas industry capacity to deliver CO2 T&S has devolved policy support. This is in terms of potential to transition and create new direct industry and supply chain jobs, set against risks of displacing jobs in different sectors and regions of the UK. We introduce a Scottish CO2 T&S industry to a UK multi-sector economy-wide model, assessing the extent of potential expansion and job creation in the presence of supply-side and funding constraints. We find that large employment ‘multiplier’ gains registered in previous studies only apply over the very long term and in the absence of such constraints. Crucially, any need to recover demands on the public purse via socialisation of costs severely constrains possible gains, while imposing ‘polluter pays’ leads to net economy-wide contractions triggered by competitiveness losses concentrated in Scottish cluster industries, leading to offshoring of production and jobs, potentially skewed within the localities hosting the clusters.

Стратегия использования региональных цифровых платформ для модернизации экономики Кузбасса

A digital transformation strategy enables companies to build competitive advantages by improving interaction with their consumers and suppliers, and entering new markets. However, the creation of own trading platform by regional companies is not always economically effective. In this regard, it is important to establish digital platforms at the regional level with support from the region, in which several companies would participate. Such platforms will be able to compete more successfully not only with corporate platforms of large companies, but also with such platforms as Amazon and AliExpress. The strategic initiative for the development of regional digital platforms is primarily aimed at innovative companies, which promote their products to end users (BtC). However, regional platforms can serve different markets and different industries, including promotion of industrial products (BtB) produced in the regional industrial clusters of Kuzbass, as well as in other areas, for example, for monitoring indicators of environment pollution. The article discusses in detail the regional investment and financial platform, which is could be developed on the basis of the Kuzbass Investment Portal. Another promising digital platform is a digital system that allows to coordinate strategies at various levels – from federal, regional and industry, to local and private companies. A serious challenge in implementing strategic initiatives to establish regional platforms is the growing competition from foreign platforms. The author proposes to reduce the risks by introducing target restrictions on the operations of foreign platforms, as well as introducing a balanced level of data provision by platform participants.

РЕГІОНАЛЬНІ БАНКИ ЯК СКЛАДОВА ПРОЦЕСУ ФОРМУВАННЯ ТА РОЗВИТКУ РЕГІОНАЛЬНИХ ПРОМИСЛОВИХ КЛАСТЕРІВ

The effectiveness of the clustering process in the regions depends to a large extent on the ability of regional banking institutions to accumulate free funds of enterprises and the population and use them as credit resource for the purposes of their investment in economic processes and coordination of banking services development with the strategy of the regional production and economic complex, implementation of certain targeted actions during financial intermediation. Creation of regional industrial clusters involves the functioning of a multi-purpose banking system in which big systemic and regional banks compete with each other. A competitive advantage of regional banks is their close relationships with local business, local self-government bodies, as well as their more responsible attitude to solving local problems related to providing employment for the population, effective use of economic potential of the region, a fairer redistribution of revenues, and levelling territorial inequalities on the national scale. It is proposed to create the Cluster of machine-building of Slobozhanshchyna, the core of which should be JSC “Turboatom”. This cluster should rely on the regional banks that are to meet the variety of various needs of each of the cluster participants. A key place among such banks should be given to the Regional development bank that does not yet exist in Slobozhanshchyna, but the issue of its formation must be resolved in the nearest future. To accomplish this, in our opinion, it would be better to choose the most stable and successful commercial bank in the region that has been experienced in financial transactions with corporate clients of the region for a long time. For example, the status of a regional development bank and the relevant tasks of promoting the regional innovation and investment development could be given to JSC Bank “Grant” as the most stable and most successfully operating bank of the region.

Cluster mechanism of industrial development based on the possibility of saving on the growth of production scales

In recent years, the economic development trend in Russia and other countries has been based on the cluster approach. Increasing competitiveness through the use of the cluster mechanism is an effective means of developing industrial production, where the main goal of any enterprise is to obtain maximum profit. For a good and successful confrontation in the conditions of market competition, Russia needs to create large industrial corporations - centers, conduct integration processes and form large regional clusters. The formation of large regional engineering clusters within the subjects of the Russian Federation will ensure the inflow of investment from outside, and will create conditions for competitive advantage for large, small and medium-sized businesses in general. Therefore, we can conclude that the development of the tasks presented in the research, which identified the main ways of cluster development based on the creation of a regional industrial engineering cluster, is relevant, and has novelty and practical significance.