How Emergence Conditions of Technological Clusters Affect Their Viability? Theoretical Perspectives on Cluster Life Cycles

Abstract

Clusters have been largely analysed in the literature. But most of the studies, adopting a static vision, have treated them as pre-established and successful structures. In contrast, this paper, by adopting a dynamic approach, studies the cluster life cycles. The changes of the cluster through time depend on the joint evolution of two dynamics that are mutually influenced: technological dynamics and regional dynamics. Consequently, we argue that clusters are not pre-established but emerge through a double competition process of technological and regional nature. Moreover, faced to a changing environment they are not always successful. Their long-term evolution depends on their viability capacities. We argue that viability is dependent on the emergence conditions, because different forms of emergence create clusters with different structures and so with different capacity to face threats and opportunities.

Acknowledgements

I thank Jérôme Vicente and Pierre-Alexandre Balland for their helpful comments and the fruitful discussion I had with them.

Notes

Locational specifications refers to the labour, natural resources and consumers as well as the complex vertical and horizontal linkages that define the technology input-output conditions (Storper & Walker, 1989).

Following Klepper (2002), these new entrants can be classified in three categories depending on their founder's background: diversifiers, entrepreneurial or parent spinoffs and inexperienced firms.

Since the definition of regional and technological process depends on several features, these categories should not be interpreted as closed cases but as stylized representations in a continuum.