Old and new theories of industry clusters

Abstract

Abstract. The paper reviews the broad range of theories and ideas that constitute, often implicitly, the logic behind strategic cluster policies. The title of the paper notwithstanding, there is no theory of industry clusters, per se. Even Porter’s (1990) seminal contribution is more a theory of firm competitiveness than clusters. There is, instead, a variety of older and newer theories of 1) the interrelationships between economic actors that clusters describe, and 2) the implications of such interrelationships for economic growth and development. Industry clusters have proven a useful way of characterizing webs of relationships between and among firms and other institutions. Policy makers designing cluster strategies attempt to leverage such relationships in the interest of growth and development objectives. For their part, regional scholars must strive to specify and test clearer hypotheses about the workings and impacts of such relationships in order to verify the efficacy of cluster policies. 1.

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