Learning and innovation in developing economy clusters: Comparing private and non-profit intermediaries in cluster governance

In this paper we ask what role governance of intermediary organisations plays for enhancing the upgrading of producers in emerging agricultural clusters. This is an important question because the argument is increasingly made that broad multiparty governance can be effective at creating both vertical and horizontal ties and restructuring network relations. We argue that organisational governance matters, but that rather than just focusing on the agency of single organisations, intermediary activities will emerge from the interaction and negotiation between expectations of other actors, the degree of embeddedness of the intermediary in the cluster and the actions of other intermediaries undertaking overlapping roles. Two case studies of emerging clusters in developing country settings are discussed– the mango cluster in Piura, northern Peru and a cluster of palm oil producers in central Colombia, that include organisations with different governance structures.