Do clusters ‘think'?

Some years ago, Mary Douglas raised the provocative issue of ‘how institutions think’, embedding the question in a wider framework of the relation between rational choice and collective behaviour, and pointing to the ‘central paradox’ of extending the individuality of thinking to social groups and institutions (Douglas, 1986, p. 36). In this chapter, we seek to ask a parallel question, namely: ‘Do clusters think?’ More specifically, and linking the discussion with Douglas’s focus of enquiry, we are interested in the question of whether and to what extent clusters can be regarded as institutions, above the level of the individual firm, for the creation and diffusion of knowledge.