ABSTRACT
In this chapter the focus is on the extent to which clusters can be built through acts of policy. To explore that important question it is necessary to take account of the conditions under which clusters currently exist. As we have seen, these vary considerably from old to new economy and in terms of scale and distribution. At the extreme, the paradigmatic case of a built cluster would be one started from ground zero by dint of policy intervention in the first instance. We have seen thus far many examples of clusters and none could be said to fit that category, though the role of public budgets can be shown to be crucial to the initiation and evolution of many, particularly where science or military funding is a key driver of research activity that results in commercialization. But even though public bodies may get involved by giving support of various kinds, the dominant cluster causation vector is one in which the firms that realize commercialization are mainly funded privately, often as risky ventures from which investors expect a generous return. That they do not always get it, but compensate the losing bets with the winners is the acid test of the thriving venture capital house or corporate venturer, as we have seen. But the earlier argument about the importance of proximity to other firms in the same or distinct but complementary sectors, as well as support agencies, suggests a degree of exclusivity regarding cluster potential. This is underscored sharply by the Schumpeterian thesis of disruptive innovation that causes swarming of imitators around the novel product or process in extraordinarily disequilibriated, even ‘creatively destructive’ ways.
