Related variety and the dynamics of European photonic clusters

ABSTRACT

This article aims at assessing the role of related variety, that is, the relatedness of knowledge bases used by different sectors within a region, as a major driver of clusters’ development. Some recent theoretical papers underline the role of clusters as ‘knowledge platforms’ organizing the recombination of technologies in overlapping industries, following the seminal definition of clusters by Porter as ‘geographic concentrations of linked industries’. In order to investigate the role of related variety in cluster dynamics, we analyse the patterns of development of clusters specializing in photonics in Europe. Photonics constitutes a new and rapidly evolving set of technologies with a high expected degree of technological recombination. However, due to inadequate traditional sectoral classifications, we propose an original method to delineate the perimeter of photonics in patent databases. A two-step algorithm is then used to identify systematically photonic clusters in Western Europe at the local level. In the last part of the paper, a typology of technological trajectories of clusters over the last decades is developed and then correlated with a set of quantitative measures of technological relatedness. The results highly confirm the role of related variety as a major driver of success, particularly for the biggest European clusters.

KEYWORDS:

• Related variety
• photonics
• knowledge platforms
• clusters
• technological trajectories

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. In each case, a final step consists in extending the identified clusters to contiguous NUTS 3 exhibiting density of patents higher than the mean. Because patents are located at the NUTS 3 level according to the residential address of inventors, the location of activities can be more central than the location of patents, notably in urban areas. We used the Eurostat urban audit definition of functional urban areas to identify coherent clusters.

2. It also satisfies the Independence of Irrelevant Patent Classes property.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by ANR and Aquitanian Regional Council.