Regional Innovation and Cooperation among Industries, Universities, R&D Institutes, and Governments - Technopolis: Best Practices for Science and Technology Cities - page 30

region. Moreover, if regions increase their concentration in employment across
clusters over time, their wage growth is even higher. A strong economic activity in
some fields seems to be more effective for regional prosperity than having a
presence in all fields (Ketels 2003 , p. 13). Apparently, the economic success of a
cluster also has positive effects on the economic sections of the region that do not
participate in the cluster. Overall prosperity increases.
3.5 Cluster Initiatives
Empirical findings already support a complex concept of cluster development.
However, the research on clusters is not only interested in analyzing a phenom-
enon. In addition, a new approach for economic policy might be developed from
the cluster concept. The underlying rationale is that there are certain externalities
that sustain the development of clusters. These externalities do not necessarily
occur automatically, but can be triggered or strengthened through purposeful
action. Also, policy can influence the time it takes for a region to develop a cluster.
The conceptual knowledge about clusters and their strategic implications for
regional development policies has already been applied in so-called cluster ini-
tiatives. Although empirical findings are still limited, they already provide some
interesting insight (Ketels 2003 , p. 17): The introductory step to forming a cluster
initiative comes in almost equal shares from government and business, or a
combination of both. Companies are usually engaged in the set-up and governance
of the initiative, whereas governments tend to be important in terms of financing
and securing some level of organizational support.
Cluster initiatives are involved in a broad range of activities. Activity areas are:
• Research and networking
• Policy lobbying
• Commercial cooperation
• Education and training
• Innovation and technology
• Investment attraction (Ketels 2003 , p. 17).
Empirical data suggest that there are several drivers of success for cluster
initiatives. They seem to be more successful if the cluster on which they focus is
already strong and located within a good business environment. They are also
more likely to have success if they are part of a broader strategy to improve the
business environment in the region. Another important factor is the basis of a
shared conceptual framework of competitiveness. The lack of a broad consensus
turns out to be the factor most likely to cause failure of the cluster initiative. Last
but not least, a small operational budget to finance an office with a dedicated
cluster facilitator seems to be necessary to sustain the initiative over time. The
second part of this paper will demonstrate a very successful example of cluster
development, namely the case of Dortmund.