IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wodepe/v18y2020ics2452292919301249.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How effective are cluster development policies? Evidence from Uruguay

Author

Listed:
  • Aboal, Diego
  • Crespi, Gustavo
  • Perera, Marcelo

Abstract

Cluster development policies have become increasingly popular as a tool for promoting development in developing countries. However, impact evaluations of cluster policies are scarce in the literature. This paper analyzes the impact of a tourism cluster policy in the region of Colonia, Uruguay, applying a synthetic control method. This method of identifying the counterfactual is especially useful in comparative case studies where there are a limited number of control units. The estimations show a positive impact of the cluster program on the inflow of international tourists to Colonia of 30% in the period 2008–2015; however, no significant impact on total expenditure was found.

Suggested Citation

  • Aboal, Diego & Crespi, Gustavo & Perera, Marcelo, 2020. "How effective are cluster development policies? Evidence from Uruguay," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 18(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wodepe:v:18:y:2020:i:c:s2452292919301249
    DOI: 10.1016/j.wdp.2020.100196
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2452292919301249
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.wdp.2020.100196?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Romer, Paul M, 1986. "Increasing Returns and Long-run Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(5), pages 1002-1037, October.
    2. William R. Kerr & Scott Duke Kominers, 2015. "Agglomerative Forces and Cluster Shapes," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 97(4), pages 877-899, October.
    3. Nkonya, Ephraim & Phillip, Dayo & Mogues, Tewodaj & Pender, John & Kato, Edward, 2012. "Impacts of Community-driven Development Programs on Income and Asset Acquisition in Africa: The Case of Nigeria," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(9), pages 1824-1838.
    4. -, 2015. "CEPAL Review no. 115," Revista CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), April.
    5. Junichi Nishimura & Hiroyuki Okamuro, 2011. "R&D productivity and the organization of cluster policy: an empirical evaluation of the Industrial Cluster Project in Japan," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 36(2), pages 117-144, April.
    6. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/c8dmi8nm4pdjkuc9g8mc0ghsn is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Ellison, Glenn & Glaeser, Edward L, 1997. "Geographic Concentration in U.S. Manufacturing Industries: A Dartboard Approach," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(5), pages 889-927, October.
    8. Martin, Philippe & Mayer, Thierry & Mayneris, Florian, 2011. "Public support to clusters: A firm level study of French "Local Productive Systems"," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 108-123, March.
    9. Yi Guo & Jinbo Jiang & Shengchao Li, 2019. "A Sustainable Tourism Policy Research Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-16, June.
    10. Adam B. Jaffe & Manuel Trajtenberg & Rebecca Henderson, 1993. "Geographic Localization of Knowledge Spillovers as Evidenced by Patent Citations," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 108(3), pages 577-598.
    11. Eduardo Cavallo & Sebastian Galiani & Ilan Noy & Juan Pantano, 2013. "Catastrophic Natural Disasters and Economic Growth," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 95(5), pages 1549-1561, December.
    12. Franz Huber, 2012. "Do clusters really matter for innovation practices in Information Technology? Questioning the significance of technological knowledge spillovers," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 12(1), pages 107-126, January.
    13. Falck, Oliver & Heblich, Stephan & Kipar, Stefan, 2010. "Industrial innovation: Direct evidence from a cluster-oriented policy," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(6), pages 574-582, November.
    14. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/c8dmi8nm4pdjkuc9g8mc0ghsn is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Kenneth Arrow, 1962. "Economic Welfare and the Allocation of Resources for Invention," NBER Chapters, in: The Rate and Direction of Inventive Activity: Economic and Social Factors, pages 609-626, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    16. Boneu, Franco & Giuliodori, David & Maffioli, Alessandro & Rodríguez, Alejandro & Stucchi, Rodolfo, 2014. "The spillover effects of the ICT cluster support in Córdoba," MPRA Paper 60307, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Alberto Abadie & Javier Gardeazabal, 2003. "The Economic Costs of Conflict: A Case Study of the Basque Country," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(1), pages 113-132, March.
    18. Castillo, Victoria & Figal Garone, Lucas & Maffioli, Alessandro & Salazar, Lina, 2017. "The causal effects of regional industrial policies on employment: A synthetic control approach," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 25-41.
    19. Delgado, Mercedes & Porter, Michael E. & Stern, Scott, 2014. "Clusters, convergence, and economic performance," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(10), pages 1785-1799.
    20. Glaeser, Edward L & Hedi D. Kallal & Jose A. Scheinkman & Andrei Shleifer, 1992. "Growth in Cities," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(6), pages 1126-1152, December.
      • Edward L. Glaeser & Hedi D. Kallal & Jose A. Scheinkman & Andrei Shleifer, 1991. "Growth in Cities," NBER Working Papers 3787, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
      • Glaeser, Edward Ludwig & Kallal, Hedi D. & Scheinkman, Jose A. & Shleifer, Andrei, 1992. "Growth in Cities," Scholarly Articles 3451309, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    21. Yan Zhang & Hailin Qu & Yingzhi Guo, 2011. "A Study of the Agglomeration of China's Convention Industry: An Economic and Neo-Economic Geography Framework Approach," Tourism Economics, , vol. 17(2), pages 305-319, April.
    22. Boneu, Franco & Alfaro Serrano, David & Maffioli, Alessandro & Pietrobelli, Carlo & Stucchi, Rodolfo & Casaburi, Gabriel & Castillo, Victoria & Figal Garone, Lucas & Giuliani, Elisa & Giuliodori, Davi, 2016. "The Impact Evaluation of Cluster Development Programs: Methods and Practices," IDB Publications (Books), Inter-American Development Bank, number 7605, December.
    23. Lucas Figal Garone & Alessandro Maffioli & Joao Negri & Cesar Rodriguez & Gonzalo Vázquez-Baré, 2015. "Cluster development policy, SME’s performance, and spillovers: evidence from Brazil," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 44(4), pages 925-948, April.
    24. Abadie, Alberto & Diamond, Alexis & Hainmueller, Jens, 2010. "Synthetic Control Methods for Comparative Case Studies: Estimating the Effect of California’s Tobacco Control Program," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 105(490), pages 493-505.
    25. Franco Boneu & David Alfaro Serrano & Alessandro Maffioli & Carlo Pietrobelli & Rodolfo Stucchi & Gabriel Casaburi & Victoria Castillo & Lucas Figal Garone & Elisa Giuliani & David Giuliodori & Andrés, 2016. "The Impact Evaluation of Cluster Development Programs: Methods and Practices," IDB Publications (Books), Inter-American Development Bank, number 94056 edited by Alessandro Maffioli & Carlo Pietrobelli & Rodolfo Stucchi, February.
    26. Erik E. Lehmann & Matthias Menter, 2018. "Public cluster policy and performance," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 43(3), pages 558-592, June.
    27. Aboal, Diego & Garda, Paula, 2015. "Does public financial support stimulate innovation and productivity? An impact evaluation," Revista CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Anna Horzela & Sławomir Olko, 2021. "The Role of Cluster Policy in Shaping Regional Competitiveness: The Case of Poland," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(4), pages 444-463.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Erik E. Lehmann & Matthias Menter, 2018. "Public cluster policy and performance," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 43(3), pages 558-592, June.
    2. Nathan, Max, 2022. "Does light touch cluster policy work? Evaluating the tech city programme," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(9).
    3. B.G. Jean Jacques Iritié, 2018. "Economic issues of innovation clusters-based industrial policy: a critical overview," Global Business and Economics Review, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 20(3), pages 286-307.
    4. Ashish Arora & Michelle Gittelman & Sarah Kaplan & John Lynch & Will Mitchell & Nicolaj Siggelkow & Juan Alcácer & Minyuan Zhao, 2016. "Zooming in: A practical manual for identifying geographic clusters," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(1), pages 10-21, January.
    5. Stefan Kipar, 2012. "Determinants of Firm Innovation - Evidence from German Panel Data," ifo Beiträge zur Wirtschaftsforschung, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, number 45.
    6. Lucas Figal Garone & Alessandro Maffioli & Joao Negri & Cesar Rodriguez & Gonzalo Vázquez-Baré, 2015. "Cluster development policy, SME’s performance, and spillovers: evidence from Brazil," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 44(4), pages 925-948, April.
    7. Matthias Firgo & Peter Mayerhofer, 2015. "Wissens-Spillovers und regionale Entwicklung - welche strukturpolitische Ausrichtung optimiert des Wachstum?," Working Paper Reihe der AK Wien - Materialien zu Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft 144, Kammer für Arbeiter und Angestellte für Wien, Abteilung Wirtschaftswissenschaft und Statistik.
    8. Carlino, Gerald & Kerr, William R., 2015. "Agglomeration and Innovation," Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, in: Gilles Duranton & J. V. Henderson & William C. Strange (ed.), Handbook of Regional and Urban Economics, edition 1, volume 5, chapter 0, pages 349-404, Elsevier.
    9. Matthias Firgo & Peter Mayerhofer, 2015. "Wissensintensive Unternehmensdienste, Wissens-Spillovers und regionales Wachstum. Teilprojekt 1: Wissens-Spillovers und regionale Entwicklung – Welche strukturpolitische Ausrichtung optimiert das Wach," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 58342, March.
    10. Castillo, Victoria & Figal Garone, Lucas & Maffioli, Alessandro & Salazar, Lina, 2017. "The causal effects of regional industrial policies on employment: A synthetic control approach," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 25-41.
    11. Ludovic Dibiaggio & Benjamin Montmartin & Lionel Nesta, 2018. "Regional alignement and productivity growth," SciencePo Working papers Main hal-03471579, HAL.
    12. Madeline Smith & James R. Wilson & Emily Wise, 2020. "Evaluating clusters: Where theory collides with practice," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(3), pages 413-430, June.
    13. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/32ctbi8fbq8j5aom2j69qam6tf is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Robert Huggins & Piers Thompson, 2015. "Entrepreneurship, innovation and regional growth: a network theory," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 103-128, June.
    15. Raquel Ortega-Argilés & Pei-Yu Yuan, 2024. "Do UK Research and Collaborations in R&I Promote Economic Prosperity and Levelling-up? An analysis of UKRI funding between 2004-2021," Working Papers 046, The Productivity Institute.
    16. Helsley, Robert W. & Strange, William C., 2002. "Innovation and Input Sharing," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 25-45, January.
    17. Abdullah M. Khan, 2014. "Impact of Employment Agglomeration on Patented Innovation in U.S. Manufacturing Industries from 1986 to 2008," International Journal of Business and Social Research, MIR Center for Socio-Economic Research, vol. 4(10), pages 25-42, October.
    18. Angel Alañon-Pardo & Patrick J. Walsh & Rafael Myro, 2018. "Do neighboring municipalities matter in industrial location decisions? Empirical evidence from Spain," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 55(3), pages 1145-1179, November.
    19. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/32ctbi8fbq8j5aom2j69qam6tf is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Gao, Ting, 2004. "Regional industrial growth: evidence from Chinese industries," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 101-124, January.
    21. David B. Audretsch & Taylor Aldridge & Alexander Oettl, 2006. "The Knowledge Filter and Economic Growth: The Role of Scientist Entrepreneurship," Papers on Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy 2006-11, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Entrepreneurship, Growth and Public Policy Group.
    22. Samba Diop & Simplice A. Asongu & Vanessa S. Tchamyou, 2021. "Mitigating the Macroeconomic Impact of Severe Natural Disasters in Africa: Policy Synergies," Working Papers 21/094, European Xtramile Centre of African Studies (EXCAS).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Cluster policy; Impact evaluation; Synthetic control methods; Developing countries;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H43 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Project Evaluation; Social Discount Rate
    • O25 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Development Planning and Policy - - - Industrial Policy
    • O54 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Latin America; Caribbean
    • R10 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:wodepe:v:18:y:2020:i:c:s2452292919301249. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/world-development-perspectives .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.