IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i8p4578-d539730.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How Clusters Create Shared Value in Rural Areas: An Examination of Six Case Studies

Author

Listed:
  • George Martinidis

    (Cluster of Bioeconomy and Environment of Western Macedonia, 50100 Kozani, Greece)

  • Muluken Elias Adamseged

    (Department of Technology Assessment and Substance Cycles, Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy, 14469 Potsdam, Germany
    Berlin Workshop in Institutional Analysis of Social-Ecological Systems, Department of Agricultural Econom-ics, Humboldt University of Berlin, 10115 Berlin, Germany)

  • Arkadiusz Dyjakon

    (Department of Applied Bioeconomy, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences (UPWr), 50-375 Wroclaw, Poland)

  • Yannis Fallas

    (Cluster of Bioeconomy and Environment of Western Macedonia, 50100 Kozani, Greece)

  • Angeliki Foutri

    (Cluster of Bioeconomy and Environment of Western Macedonia, 50100 Kozani, Greece)

  • Philipp Grundmann

    (Department of Technology Assessment and Substance Cycles, Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy, 14469 Potsdam, Germany
    Berlin Workshop in Institutional Analysis of Social-Ecological Systems, Department of Agricultural Econom-ics, Humboldt University of Berlin, 10115 Berlin, Germany)

  • Karen Hamann

    (IFAU Institute for Food Studies & Agro Industrial Development, 2970 Horsholm, Denmark)

  • Stanislaw Minta

    (Institute of Economics Sciences, Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Science (UPWr), 50-375 Wroclaw, Poland)

  • Nikolaos Ntavos

    (Cluster of Bioeconomy and Environment of Western Macedonia, 50100 Kozani, Greece)

  • Tora Råberg

    (Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE), Department of Bioeconomy and Health, Unit Agriculture and Food, 223 70 Lund, Sweden)

  • Silvia Russo

    (Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, 40127 Bologna, Italy)

  • Davide Viaggi

    (Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, 40127 Bologna, Italy)

Abstract

The main aim of this paper is to demonstrate that clusters can support the sustainable development of rural areas through the creation of shared value. This is done via the close exam-ination of six different cases of rural clusters in Greece, Italy, Germany, Poland, Denmark, and Sweden. Qualitative as well as quantitative data were taken from the clusters, which demonstrated that their main business approaches naturally coincided with the creation of economic, social, and environmental benefits for the local communities in which they operated. The case clusters were created in a top-down manner, aimed at boosting regional R&D activities and making the local economy more competitive and more sustainable. However, private initiative took over and al-lowed these clusters to flourish because meeting the regions’ economic, social, and environmental needs successfully coincided with the target of the clusters’ own development and profitability. The results show that clusters, with their potential for shared value creation, can constitute a powerful engine for the revitalisation and development of rural areas, addressing the significant challenges which they are currently facing.

Suggested Citation

  • George Martinidis & Muluken Elias Adamseged & Arkadiusz Dyjakon & Yannis Fallas & Angeliki Foutri & Philipp Grundmann & Karen Hamann & Stanislaw Minta & Nikolaos Ntavos & Tora Råberg & Silvia Russo & , 2021. "How Clusters Create Shared Value in Rural Areas: An Examination of Six Case Studies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-16, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:8:p:4578-:d:539730
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/8/4578/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/8/4578/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Peter Maskell, 2001. "Knowledge Creation And Diffusion In Geographic Clusters," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 5(02), pages 213-237.
    2. Maria Hełdak & Sultan Sevinç Kurt Konakoğlu & Izabela Kurtyka-Marcak & Beata Raszka & Banu Çiçek Kurdoğlu, 2020. "Visitors’ Perceptions towards Traditional and Regional Products in Trabzon (Turkey) and Podhale (Poland)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-19, March.
    3. Sanjay Sharma & Irene Henriques, 2005. "Stakeholder influences on sustainability practices in the Canadian forest products industry," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(2), pages 159-180, February.
    4. Gniewko Niedbała & Anna Jęczmyk & Ryszard Steppa & Jarosław Uglis, 2020. "Linking of Traditional Food and Tourism. The Best Pork of Wielkopolska—Culinary Tourist Trail: A Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-17, July.
    5. Akçomak, I. Semih & ter Weel, Bas, 2009. "Social capital, innovation and growth: Evidence from Europe," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(5), pages 544-567, July.
    6. Michał Roman & Arkadiusz Niedziółka & Andrzej Krasnodębski, 2020. "Respondents’ Involvement in Tourist Activities at the Time of the COVID-19 Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-21, November.
    7. Luthans, Fred & Luthans, Kyle W. & Luthans, Brett C., 2004. "Positive psychological capital: beyond human and social capital," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 45-50.
    8. Benedict Sheehy, 2015. "Defining CSR: Problems and Solutions," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 131(3), pages 625-648, October.
    9. Alessandra Fermani & Maria Rita Sergi & Angelo Carrieri & Isabella Crespi & Laura Picconi & Aristide Saggino, 2020. "Sustainable Tourism and Facilities Preferences: The Sustainable Tourist Stay Scale (STSS) Validation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-14, November.
    10. Ta-Kai Yang & Min-Ren Yan, 2020. "The Corporate Shared Value for Sustainable Development: An Ecosystem Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-16, March.
    11. Elias Carayannis & Ruslan Rakhmatullin, 2014. "The Quadruple/Quintuple Innovation Helixes and Smart Specialisation Strategies for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth in Europe and Beyond," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 5(2), pages 212-239, June.
    12. Zheliazkov, Georgi & Zaimova, Darina & Genchev, Evgeni & Toneva, Krasimira, 2015. "Cluster Development In Rural Areas," Economics of Agriculture, Institute of Agricultural Economics, vol. 62(01), pages 1-21, March.
    13. Magdalena Raftowicz & Magdalena Kalisiak-Mędelska & Mirosław Struś, 2020. "Redefining the Supply Chain Model on the Milicz Carp Market," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-16, April.
    14. Carolina Perpina Castillo & Boyan Kavalov & Ricardo Ribeiro Barranco & Vasco Diogo & Chris Jacobs-Crisioni & Filipe Batista e Silva & Claudia Baranzelli & Carlo Lavalle, 2018. "Territorial Fact and Trends in the EU Rural Areas within 2015-2030," JRC Research Reports JRC114016, Joint Research Centre.
    15. Shafer, Scott M. & Smith, H. Jeff & Linder, Jane C., 2005. "The power of business models," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 48(3), pages 199-207.
    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. Irtyshcheva, Inna & Kramarenko, Iryna & Stehnei, Marianna & Pavlenko, Olena & Boiko.Yevheniia & Voit, Oleksiy & Hryshyna, Natalia & Ishchenko, Olena & Archybisova, Dariya & Molodan, Maryna, . "Development of Organic Production in Ukraine: Potential, Current Threats and Consequences for Global Food Security," AGRIS on-line Papers in Economics and Informatics, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Economics and Management, vol. 15(01).
    2. Pere Castell & Ramon Ramon-Muñoz, 2022. "Deterministic and Contingent Factors in the Genesis of Agribusiness Clusters: The Pigmeat Industry in Nineteenth-Century Catalonia," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-24, March.
    3. George Martinidis & Arkadiusz Dyjakon & Stanisław Minta & Rafał Ramut, 2022. "Intellectual Capital and Sustainable S3 in the Regions of Central Macedonia and Western Macedonia, Greece," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-17, August.
    4. Christina-Ioanna Papadopoulou & Efstratios Loizou & Fotios Chatzitheodoridis & Anastasios Michailidis & Christos Karelakis & Yannis Fallas & Aikaterini Paltaki, 2023. "What Makes Farmers Aware in Adopting Circular Bioeconomy Practices? Evidence from a Greek Rural Region," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-17, April.

    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. G. Martinidis & N. Komninos & E. Carayannis, 2022. "Taking into Account the Human Factor in Regional Innovation Systems and Policies," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 13(2), pages 849-879, June.
    2. Marek Więckowski, 2021. "Will the Consequences of Covid-19 Trigger a Redefining of the Role of Transport in the Development of Sustainable Tourism?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-15, February.
    3. Magdalena Raftowicz & Mirosław Struś & Michał Nadolny & Magdalena Kalisiak-Mędelska, 2020. "The Importance of Price in Poland’s Carp Market," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-13, December.
    4. George Martinidis & Arkadiusz Dyjakon & Stanisław Minta & Rafał Ramut, 2022. "Intellectual Capital and Sustainable S3 in the Regions of Central Macedonia and Western Macedonia, Greece," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-17, August.
    5. Natalia Tomczewska-Popowycz & Łukasz Quirini-Popławski, 2021. "Political Instability Equals the Collapse of Tourism in Ukraine?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-20, April.
    6. Jonathan Muringani & Rune Dahl Fitjar & Andrés Rodríguez-Pose, 2024. "Political trust and economic development in European regions," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 73(4), pages 2059-2089, December.
    7. Arru Brunella & Delrio Federico & Furesi Roberto & Pulina Pietro & Fabio Albino Madau, 2025. "Role of environmental, social and governance disclosure in business profitability and cost of debt: An analysis of small Southern Italian agri‐food businesses," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(3), pages 856-895, July.
    8. Franck Brulhart & Sandrine Gherra & Bertrand V. Quelin, 2019. "Do Stakeholder Orientation and Environmental Proactivity Impact Firm Profitability?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 158(1), pages 25-46, August.
    9. Oasis Kodila-Tedika & Julius Agbor, 2016. "Does Trust Matter for Entrepreneurship: Evidence from a Cross-Section of Countries," Economies, MDPI, vol. 4(1), pages 1-17, March.
    10. Ionica Oncioiu & Sorinel Căpuşneanu & Dan Ioan Topor & Ana Maria Ifrim & Ramona Camelia Silvestru & Monica Ioana Toader, 2021. "Improving Business Processes in a Construction Project and Increasing Performance by Using Target Costing," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(1), pages 21582440219, February.
    11. Irtyshcheva, Inna & Kramarenko, Iryna & Stehnei, Marianna & Pavlenko, Olena & Boiko.Yevheniia & Voit, Oleksiy & Hryshyna, Natalia & Ishchenko, Olena & Archybisova, Dariya & Molodan, Maryna, . "Development of Organic Production in Ukraine: Potential, Current Threats and Consequences for Global Food Security," AGRIS on-line Papers in Economics and Informatics, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Faculty of Economics and Management, vol. 15(01).
    12. Carmen Nastase & Carmen Chasovschi & Mihai Popescu & Adrian Liviu Scutariu, 2010. "The Importance of Stakeholders and Policy Influence Enhancing the Innovation in Nature Based Tourism Services Greece, Austria, Finland and Romania Case Studies," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(2), pages 137-148.
    13. Bentivoglio, Deborah & Bucci, Giorgia & Belletti, Matteo & Finco, Adele, 2022. "A theoretical framework on network’s dynamics for precision agriculture technologies adoption," Revista de Economia e Sociologia Rural (RESR), Sociedade Brasileira de Economia e Sociologia Rural, vol. 60(4), January.
    14. Roberto Antonietti & Ron Boschma, 2021. "Social capital, resilience, and regional diversification in Italy [Social capital, innovation and growth: evidence from Europe]," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 30(3), pages 762-777.
    15. Massa, Silvia & Testa, Stefania, 2011. "Beyond the conventional-specialty dichotomy in food retailing business models: An Italian case study," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 476-482.
    16. Maciej Jagódka & Małgorzata Snarska, 2021. "The State of Human Capital and Innovativeness of Polish Voivodships in 2004–2018," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-20, November.
    17. Asif Khan & Chih-Cheng Chen & Kwanrat Suanpong & Athapol Ruangkanjanases & Santhaya Kittikowit & Shih-Chih Chen, 2021. "The Impact of CSR on Sustainable Innovation Ambidexterity: The Mediating Role of Sustainable Supply Chain Management and Second-Order Social Capital," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-25, November.
    18. Marcos Carchano & Inmaculada Carrasco & Angela González, 2025. "Examining environmental proactivity in the Spanish wine industry: The moderating role of size," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 41(1), pages 127-157, January.
    19. Mohd Hizam Hanafiah, & Sheikh Usman Yousaf, & Bushra Usman,, 2017. "The influence of psychological capital on the growth intentions of entrepreneurs: A study on Malaysian SME entrepreneurs," Business and Economic Horizons (BEH), Prague Development Center, vol. 13(5), pages 556-569, December.
    20. Kostakis, Ioannis & Lolos, Sarantis & Doulgeraki, Charikleia, 2020. "Cultural Heritage led Growth: Regional evidence from Greece (1998-2016)," MPRA Paper 98443, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    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:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:8:p:4578-:d:539730. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.