Bussines Clusters

Clusters are complex economic structures in which similar companies, their up-stream and down-stream business partners, universities, research institutes, educational units, various service providers, diverse private and public institutions concentrate geografically, striving to get economies of agglomeration and scale, to capitalize on the resulting spill over effects, to cut costs, to better harness resources, to exchange information and experience, to improve quality, innovation, skills and productivity. By somehow unexpectedly combining competition and cooperation, they form a new, sophisticated stage in the evolution of production structures in quest of higher efficiency. This paper forays into the world of clusters and clusterization, which seem to increasingly capture the interest of businesses, scholars and policy makers. It looks at what clusters are, how they arise, what are their specific features, what benefits and challenges they can generate for companies and for the regions in which they locate and if and how they should be fostered by industrial policy interventions. The conclusion is that clusters can be very important development triggers and therefore they should be encouraged and nurtured by adequate policy measures. They should not only be used as a regular policy tool, but be placed at the very center of the development strategies of emerging economies.