Facilitating Cluster Evolution in Peripheral Regions: The Role of Clusterpreneurs

In the last decades cluster initiatives1 and cluster policy have become central features of policy promoting growth at regional, national, and European level. Many regional and national government’s policies aim at imitating successful clusters in the belief that their local areas may also capture the benefits of new high-technology firm formation and expected economic growth (Cooke, 2001a; Feldman et al., 2005) despite the fact that there is little empirical evidence to support a rationale for such policy, as the link between clustering and economic performance remains under-studied (Stuart and Sorenson, 2003; Maine et al., 2010). Both academic models (Brenner, 2004) and a number of consultant-made guidelines, even guidebooks (such as DTI, 2004; Rosenfeld, 2002), have been developed to assist the policy decision process.2 This promotion of high-tech clusters is not confined to urban areas but also often takes place in peripheral regions, such as in the example studied in this chapter, the possible development of a biomedical cluster in the region of North Jutland in Denmark.