Beschreibung

"The authors develop a methodology to identify and analyse clusters in an economic area, applying it to a critical European economic area: Central Franconia in Germany. The chapter presents the results of the research project 'Clusters and Inter-Firm Networks in the Region of Nuremberg', a joint work of the Institute of Employment Research (IAB) and the University of Regensburg. There are three main hypotheses on which their approach is rooted. The first is the viability and the policy relevance of a comprehensive economic analysis, notwithstanding the intrinsic fuzziness of the notion of cluster, 'a black box with no sharp outlines, unknown size and unspecific complexity'. The 'links to well-established methods of economic theory' allow one 'to try and shape a comprehensive picture'. However, the authors argue that this picture needs to account for the considerable differences between the structures of clusters. Consequently, their second hypothesis is that data collection and analysis should be designed and employed with the aim of depicting 'a concise picture of the individual regional clusters'. The third hypothesis is the importance of combining the different methods to approach clusters. They develop a methodology based on semi-structured interviews with experts from institutions and companies, and a company survey in cluster-relevant industries and services along regional supply chains. A set of five criteria is used to check whether fields of functional specialization can be considered as working clusters or as supply chains with potential for clustering. These criteria are concentration in space, labour market pooling, existence of 'leading companies', of supporting institutions and network activities. <br>For the late 1990s the authors present evidence that clusters are not isolated conglomerates in their respective fields, but are interlinked, although to different extents. The authors account for vertical integration, diagonal links - which are, for example, links to research institutions and service partners - and horizontal links between companies. Cooperation between companies as well as between companies and institutions, in terms of joint activities with other companies, universities, research institutes or other institutions within or outside the region, is detected as pivotal and investigated in depth." (Text excerpt, IAB-Doku) ((en))