Economics of Clusters

When we talk about clusters, it's the fabulous destiny of Silicon Valley that first comes to mind the place where entrepreneurs and policymakers alike flock. But do we really understand the complex mechanics of these clusters? What tools can economics and other related disciplines use to analyze their performance? When it comes to spending taxpayer money to support cluster development, do benefits actually exceed costs?

This book provides a synthesis of cluster theory and presents methodologies to analyze their structure and performance. It also contains insights into how to renew regional innovation policy.

The French edition of this volume was granted Best Book in Economics 2016 by The French Association of Economics (AFSE)

Provides a brief history of cluster theories Examines knowledge externalities and geography of innovation Explains how to avoid the geographical determinism of clusters Explores the effects of proximity on cluster performances Looks at the strengths and limits of cluster policy

Autorentext
Jérôme Vicente is Professor at Sciences-Po, head of the LEREPS and member of the executive board of the SMS (Structuring of Social Worlds) research unit, all at University of Toulouse, France.

Klappentext

'Jérôme gives us cues about what future research should address first, why successful and wealthy clusters can also be places of poverty, social exclusion and rising inequality, and second, what policies are best to prevent this from happening.'
Elisa Giuliani, University of Pisa, Italy

'This book fills a major gap in the literature on clusters, systematically tracing the history of the cluster concept and incorporating the latest insights in cluster analysis. It is an absolute must-read for any scholar, student and policy practitioner that is interested in clusters.'
Ron Boschma, Utrecht University, the Netherlands and Stavanger University, Norway

When we talk about clusters, it's the fabulous destiny of Silicon Valley that first comes to mind the place where entrepreneurs and policymakers alike flock. But do we really understand the complex mechanics of these clusters? What tools can economics and other related disciplines use to analyze their performance? When it comes to spending taxpayer money to support cluster development, do benefits actually exceed costs?

This book provides a synthesis of cluster theory and presents methodologies to analyze their structure and performance. It also contains insights into how to renew regional innovation policy.

The French edition of this volume was granted Best Book in Economics 2016 by The French Association of Economics (AFSE)

Jérôme Vicente is Professor at Sciences-Po, head of the LEREPS and member of the executive board of the SMS (Structuring of Social Worlds) research unit, all at University of Toulouse, France.

Inhalt

Chapter 1: Introduction.- Chapter 2: A brief history of cluster theory.- Chapter 3: Untraded interdependencies and cluster formation.- Chapter 4: Proximity, networks, and cluster dynamics.- Chapter 5: Opportunities and weaknesses of cluster policy.- Chapter 6: Conclusion.