Cluster life cycles - the role of actors, networks and institutions in emerging, growing, and transforming clusters in Germany
Final Report Abstract
Ample research has been done on functioning clusters. In contrast, the way how clusters evolve over time, i.e. how clusters actually become clusters, how and why they decline, how they shift into new fields, is largely disregarded. This research project therefore aimed to analyze the impact factors that drive the cluster life cycle and that lead to cluster transformations. In doing so, the project analysed the role of actors, networks and institutions during the cluster life cycles and distinguished between endogenous and exogenous drivers through the cluster life cycle. Upon this research framework, the project has investigated four clusters in different phases of their life cycle: the agricultural engineering cluster in Western Lower Saxony, the wind energy cluster in Hamburg, the Alentejo wine cluster in Portugal, and the film and TV cluster in Seoul, South Korea. The project sponsored by the DFG was strongly embedded in a larger research project sponsored by the European Science Foundation, which investigated in total 19 clusters from an evolutionary perspective from 2011 until 2014. It consisted of project partners in five countries (Germany, Sweden, Czech Republic, Austria and Switzerland), as well as associated partners in additional three countries (Norway, Denmark and the United Arabic Emirates). The international comparative project has led to a deeper understanding about the characteristics of different stages of the cluster life cycle as well as the transition between the stages. It allowed us to identify four, hitherto not much discussed, key impact factors driving cluster evolution across different sectors and types of regions. First, we identified the influencing role of markets and consumption in the different stages of the cluster life cycle. In this context, the importance of symbolic knowledge in innovation processes is emphasized, particularly for firms in low-tech sectors, such as wine production. An investment in such symbolic knowledge can allow a stagnant or even declining cluster to reposition itself in the market, and enter a new growth stage in its life cycle. Secondly, we could identify the importance of institutions, regulations and standards in influencing firms in different stages of the cluster life cycle. Many of these factors are multi-scalar and often interrelated at different levels. Thirdly, our studies showed how the role of knowledge and learning changes through the life cycle of a cluster. The casestudy of agricultural engineering, for instance, revealed that engineering based clusters in later stages of the life cycle that seek to renew themselves or to adapt to external technology cannot simply rely on their pre-existent knowledge, but need to get access to external sources of knowledge. Fourthly, our analyses showed that nowadays clusters participate in broader territorial networks, building upon broader networks of cognitive and financial resources, but also upon media and social relations. In cases such as the wind energy cluster in Hamburg, the transformation of these non-local networks has actually larger effect on the evolution of the cluster than the local networks. These results can be applied by policy-makers working in the field of cluster support. Knowledge about these processes and impact factors is crucial in order to develop policy measures that go beyond reinforcing existing cluster structures. It will help policy-makers to develop measures that can support the emergence of new clusters, the prevention of decline in existing clusters, or the transformation of declining clusters into new ones.
Publications
- (2014) Divergent Spatialities and Interdependencies between the Evolution of Standards and Clusters. ESF-CLC-Workshop in Kiel, 15 - 16 September 2014. 18p.
Menzel, M.P. and Grillitsch, M.
- “Organizational Relatedness and the Evolution of Knowledge Intensive Business Services in the Hamburg Wind Energy Industry”. 2nd Geography of Innovation Conference in Utrecht, NL (23rd to 25th of January 2014)
Adrian, J.M. & Menzel, M.-P.
- (2015) "The Spatiality of Standard Evolution : Standardization in the Wind Industry from a Spatial View". DRUID Academy Conference 2015 in Aalborg (21th to 23rd of January 2015)
Adrian, J.M.
- (2015) Broadening Our Knowledge on Cluster Evolution, European Planning Studies, 23:10, 1921-1931
Fornahl, D., R. Hassink & M-P. Menzel
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1080/09654313.2015.1016654) - (2015) Creative Cluster Evolution: the case of the film and TV industries in Seoul, South Korea. European Planning Studies, 23:10, 1993-2008
Berg, S-H.
(See online at https://doi.org/10.1080/09654313.2014.946645) - (2015): Relational Discontinuities in the Global Wind Turbine Production. DRUID Conference in Rome, June 15-17, 2015. 31p.
Adrian, M. and Menzel, M.-P.
- (2016) Broadening Our Knowledge on Cluster Evolution. London: Routledge 2016. ISBN: 978-1-138-66616-0
Fornahl, D., R. Hassink & M-P. Menzel (eds.)
- (2016) Introduction. In: Fornahl, D. & R. Hassink (eds.) (2016) The Life Cycle of Clusters – A Policy Perspective. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. ISBN: 978-1-78471-927-2
Fornahl, D. & R. Hassink
- (2016) Rationales for policy interventions over the cluster life cycle. In: Fornahl, D. & R. Hassink (eds.) The Life Cycle of Clusters – A Policy Perspective. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar
Fornahl, D. & D. Santner
- (2016) The Life Cycle of Clusters – A Policy Perspective. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar. ISBN: 978-1-78471-927 (forthcoming May 2016)
Fornahl, D. & R. Hassink (eds.)
- Cluster decline and political lock-ins. In: Belussi, F. & J.L. Hervás-Oliver (eds.) Unfolding Cluster Evolution. London: Routledge 2017. ISBN: 978-1-315-64871-2
Hassink, R.
