Clusters In the EU-10 New Member Countries (original) (raw)

EU CLUSTERS - A COMPARISON BETWEEN NEW AND OLD MEMBER STATES

2010

Striving to get economies of agglomeration and scale, to better use resources, to improve quality, innovation, skills and productivity and benefit of spill over effects, companies with similar or linked activities tend to cluster, creating new and complex structures which are beneficial for both the member companies and the region where they agglomerate. Clustering "comes naturally" and clusters are nothing but another stage in the evolution towards ever more efficient productive structures. This paper makes a comparative analysis of the economic clusters in the new and old European Union member countries -as they were identified and evaluated by the European Cluster Observatorywith a stress upon the comparison between the clusters in Romania, Germany and Great Britain.

The Situation of Competitive Clusters in Some EU States

A special place in the European regional development policies is occupied by the study of behaviour in the field of localising the agglomerations of industrial activities, which demonstrate their tendency of grouping in space as clusters such as industrial parks, small or large cities, etc. The explanations are based on registering some specific scale economies, known as economies of agglomeration, which have their origin into: the existence of some supplying companies specialised for certain goods and services; the existence of a local labour market; the mobility of information and innovation, etc. The economies of agglomerations are manifested as internal economies of scale, the economies of localisation and economies of urbanisation.

Competitive regional clusters: international experience

E3S Web of Conferences

Many countries is developing in the context of a multitude of global trends and challenges that noticeably change the “picture” of the world, positions, interests and opportunities of various players. An important role in the formation and change of this “picture” belongs to the sphere of science, technology, and innovation. Over the past 20 years, the European Commission has paid attention to the development of cluster policy. Today stands out several trends in the development of European cluster policy. In our opinion, economic activity in clusters tends to concentrate in certain areas, thus, clusters contribute to regional development and overcoming economic imbalances. Studying the accumulated European experience in the field of cluster initiatives and current trends allows us to identify the advantages and disadvantages of the existing mechanisms for the formation of Russian clusters. The article analyzes the Russian experience in the implementation of programs for the developm...

The Complex Relation Between Clusters and Innovation in European Union

2015

In this paper we proposed to analyze the dynamics of innovation in the European Union countries in order to observe its implications in clusters. Due to the multiple links between cluster members, the innovation transfer is achieved much easier, contributing to the rapid spread of innovative ideas, technologies, labor and know-how. The opportunity for innovation is easier noticeable due to the diversity of the cluster members that operate in a competitive environment, the permanent contact that is created with other companies and institutions allowing just overcome competitive pressure by innovation. Therefore, we analyzed the links between innovation and clusters in the countries of Eastern Europe and those in Western Europe. For this we made a comparison between the most innovative countries and the less innovative ones, identifying the benefits of clusters as a means of enhancing the innovation capacity of each state.

Clusters and concentration of businesses in regions of some European countries as tools for economic development

Engineering for Rural Development, 2017

In our paper we made an overview on the literature about the creation and role of clusters and concentration of economic activities in the development of regions in Europe. Based on data available, we tried to find the correlation between the welfare, the quality of life and the clusters (especially in the knowledgeintensive sectors). In our research we assumed that the concentration of a sector in a region can have influence on the quality of life and that higher knowledge-intensive sectors of manufacturing and services have greater contribution to welfare. During research two main questions may arise: After how many years can we see beneficial effects on quality of life if a region starts to specialize. And: Can quality of life react flexibly to the changes in economy? After our research we got to the conclusion that there is a time shift in this phenomenon, the correlation is not linear and the changes are not elastic. We assumed that knowledge-driven economy has greater effect on quality of life than traditional economy but this cannot be proven generally. Moreover, regional specialties in labor market and industrial traditions seem to have great impact. We collected the data from the Eurostat database. The sample data give the opportunity to calculate the labor based location quotient (LQ), Herfindahl index and Dissimilarity index as well. All the three indices can show us the same effects that we are interested, but we have chosen LQ for our research. Eurostat has a so called high-tech industry and knowledgeintensive service database, which was used and filtered to the employment data in order to calculate the labor based LQ. The database lasts from 1994 to 2008 and shows the employment in the different knowledge intensive sectors on regional levels in 33 countries. The aim of our research was to find out how much the clusters/economic concentrations affect the development of regions and to try to define possible development ways for the future.

Industrial specialization and regional clusters in the ten new EU member states

Competitiveness Review: An International Business Journal Incorporating Journal of Global Competitiveness, 2008

This paper focuses on industrial specialization patterns within the ten new EU member states (EU10). Official employment statistics are analyzed across the industry dimension through 38 cluster sectors and across the geographical dimension through 41 NUTS 2 regions. Industrial specialization is analyzed in terms of absolute number of employees, specialization, and dominance. 19 "three-star" regional clusters, which display high values for each of these three parameters, are identified. The analysis also suggests that regional concentration in EU10 is lower than in the USA, and slightly lower than in the old EU member states.

Clusters Influence on Competitiveness. Evidences from European Union Countries

2016

Lately, The European Union has established a series of regulations supporting the evolution of clusters as a pillar in the development of the regional economy in order to increase companies and nations competitiveness. Also, Rrecent developments show that rapid diffusion of information in the present innovative environment could drive longer-term growth. With a particular role in creating relations between the public and private sectors, clusters have become a capable tool of increasing firms productivity. The purpose of this paper is to identify the presence or absence of a correlation between the development level of clusters within the European Union states and the competitiveness level of these states, measured by the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI). The study’s object are the countries of Central and Eastern Europe because we noticed that their level of innovation and productivity is significantly behind the countries located in Western Europe.

Innovation clusters in European regions Preliminary version

This paper investigates on the presence of innovation clusters in European regions. The analysis is based on an original statistical databank set up by CRENoS on regional patenting at the European Patent Office spanning from 1978 to 2001 and classified by ISIC sectors (2 digit).. We consider 175 regions of 17 countries in Europe, the 15 members of the European Union plus Switzerland and Norway. Firstly, an analysis of the spatial distribution of innovation activities in Europe is performed. Some global and local indicators for spatial association are presented, summarising the presence of a general dependence process in the distribution of the phenomena under examination. The analysis is implemented for 23 manufacturing sectors to assess for the presence of significant differences in the their spatial features. Moreover, the extent and strength of spatial externalities are evaluated for three different periods: 1988-90, 1994-96 and 1999-01. Secondly, this paper contributes to the analysis of the process of spatial agglomeration of innovative activities by investigating directly its determinants. Our main purpose is to identify the extent to which the degree of specialisation or diversity in a region may affect the innovative output in a particular local industry. Other local externalities are also tested such as home market effect and other agglomeration phenomena. Moreover the geographical extent of such effects is measured by means of the usual tests of spatial econometrics.

Clusters as a Factor Influencing Regional Policy and Competitiveness

Social Science Bulletin, 2019

The regional policy is a priority of the European Union since too large disparities between and within its member states have been remaining over the past decades, which results in huge differences in regional competitiveness of the EU countries. This paper analyses the diverse impact of clusters on the competitiveness of highly developed and lesser developed regions on different stages of economic development in the world, EU and Latvia. The aim of this research is to evaluate the impact of clusters on regional policy and competitiveness. Methods used in the research include general and quantitative research methods. The methodological basis for defining the determinants of regional competitiveness is the three-stage system of economic development elaborated by the World Economic Forum. Firstly, the theoretical analysis of regional policiesí features is being conducted in the EU. It also includes the analysis of the development of theoretical approach of the regional policy and competitiveness, as well as the systematisation of structural elements, indicators and factors influencing regional competitiveness. Secondly, it analyses origin and nature of the cluster from the economic theory perspective, as well as provides an empirical assessment of the clustersí impact on regional competitiveness from in the world, EU and Latvia. Finally, the paper provides conclusions on research findings about clustersí interaction with regional policy and impact on competitiveness of regions in different stages of development.