The development of industrial clusters and public policy.
McDonald, Frank Tsagdis, D. Huang, Q.
McDonald, Frank
Tsagdis, D.
Huang, Q.
Publication Date
2006
End of Embargo
Supervisor
Rights
Peer-Reviewed
Yes
Open Access status
closedAccess
Accepted for publication
Institution
Department
Awarded
Embargo end date
Collections
Additional title
Abstract
This paper assesses the relationships between public policy and the development of industrial
clusters. A conceptual model of the relationship between public policies and the development
of industrial clusters is developed and tested using data from 43 European industrial clusters.
The results indicate that most government policies have no significant impact on the growth of
industrial clusters or for the development of co-operation within industrial clusters. There is
limited evidence that packages of government policies that are specifically geared towards
improving the local asset base are effective in overcoming obstacles to growth of industrial
clusters. However, when age is used as a control variable the weak relationship between policy
packages and growth of industrial clusters disappear. The results indicate that individual
and packages of public policies are not strongly connected to either high levels of co-operation,
or high growth in industrial clusters. Moreover, no clear evidence was found that high levels
of co-operation were associated with growth in industrial districts. In the light of the failure to
find clear-cut associations between public policies and the development of industrial clusters the
paper outlines a research agenda to help to increase our understanding of these issues.
Version
No full-text in the repository
Citation
McDonald, F., Tsagdis, D. and Huang, Q. (2006). The development of
industrial clusters and public policy. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development. Vol. 18, No. 6 pp. 525-542.
Link to publisher’s version
Link to published version
Link to Version of Record
Type
Article