Clusters and regional competitiveness Sample Clauses

Clusters and regional competitiveness. Policy makers are relentlessly seeking forms and arrangements for increasing the social and economic prosperity of their cities and regions. International studies suggest that the prosperity of a place is directly related to its competitiveness (▇▇▇▇▇▇ 2008). Clusters are believed to increase regional competitiveness, given that they contribute positively to innovative processes, facilitating relations with other institutions, better enabling the consumer needs, canalising knowledge and information needed for development (▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ & ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ 2002; ▇▇▇▇▇▇ 2000; 2008; ▇▇▇▇▇▇ 2011; ▇▇▇▇▇▇ & ▇▇▇▇▇▇ 2009). Recent literature on clusters (e.g., ▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ et al. 2012) show how clusters do impact positively and significantly on regional competitiveness in several respects (e.g. new firms formation, new patents, new jobs, etc.), suggesting econometric models to assess it. The focus on this sub-topic is on the way a cluster ecosystem and specific cluster initiatives may favourably impact on urban and regional competitiveness, especially in terms of innovation and new business formation.