Regional clusters: Really the place to be? - A multidimensional investigation of firm performance within clusters

Abstract

The cumulative dissertation investigates the conditions through which companies can gain from being located in clusters. It thereby challenges the still prevalent assumption of homogeneity between firms located within clusters. Based on three consecutive thematic modules, each with a different thematic focus, the rather complex relationship between clusters and firm performance is comprehensively researched. By applying a descriptive and a statistical oriented meta-analysis of 168 empirical studies in the first thematic module it can be shown that there exist relatively weak evidence for a pure firm-specific cluster effect. Instead, evidence can be found that several variables from different levels of analysis directly or interactively moderate the relationship between clusters and firm success, which is measured by four different performance variables. Based on these rather broad results, the second thematic module investigates the (interactive) influence of contextual variables on firm innovative performance from three different levels of analysis, focusing thereby in particular on possible knowledge spillovers and the specialized labour pool in clusters. By quantitatively analysing a unique multilevel dataset of German firms, evidence is found that being located in a cluster indeed increases on average firm innovativeness. However, the results also indicate that firms benefit unequally within the cluster environment depending on the specific firm-level, cluster-level, industry-/market-level conditions and their interactions. Based on the previous results and the rich literature about potential failures in innovation systems, a targeted (problem-oriented) policy framework is developed in the third thematic module. By offering a clear categorization of six multidimensional problems within clusters and of the corresponding targeted policy measures, this framework contributes to a more active policy approach that considers the heterogeneity within clusters.