ABSTRACT
Clusters may be defined as non-random (Ellison and Glaeser, 1994) geographical agglomeration of firms with similar or closely complementary capabilities (Richardson, 1972). 1 However, clusters have been scrutinized under many different labels. Some of the synonyms listed in Table 2.1 below may have the same essential meaning as conveyed by using the cluster concept as defined above but can differ in peripheral meaning by their implications (usually involving some minor idea or underlying assumptions in the meaning of the concept), connotations (usually including ideas that color the meaning of the concept often by providing historical or literary associations) or applications (usually the result of current idioms that have established restrictions on the use of a particular term). Marshall’s (1890) initially general or generic term of ‘the industrial district’ is, for instance, now often applied when wishing explicitly to emphasize the values and norms shared by collocated firms (see Brusco, 1982 among many others). In other cases singular academic contributions based on a particular term over time will have developed into distinct schools of thought while attracting rapidly increasing numbers of followers or critics. 2 Cluster publications 1953–2004: Number of articles, published in scholarly journals within the social sciences with the term ‘cluster', its synonyms, or its more distant cousins in the title or in the abstract or among the keywords https://www.niso.org/standards/z39-96/ns/oasis-exchange/table">
Term looked up in database
1950s
1960s
1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
Cluster(s)/clustering of firm(s)
0
0
0
0
9
15
Agglomeration
2
4
23
45
305
380
– geographic(al) agglomeration(s)
0
0
0
0
4
7
– spatial agglomeration(s)
0
0
0
3
17
23
– agglomeration(s) of (same industry) firm(s)
0
0
1
4
71
50
Geographic (al) concentration(s)
0
0
3
0
32
51
Spatial concentration(s)
0
0
5
2
32
30
Localized or localized industries or firms
0
0
0
0
5
7
Growth pole
1
1
3
4
12
5
Innovative milieu(s)
0
0
0
0
26
8
Industrial district(s)
1
2
2
5
126
95
Note 1950s: from 1 January 1953. 2000s: to 30 September 2004. Though the table is based on the best current representation of the development within scientific journal publishing, its inherent methodological problems should not be disregarded. Terms belonging to academic traditions that rely heavily on books are underrepresented by definition. The same applies to terms used mainly outside English-language journals. Many radical and experimenting journals are never included in the ISI database because of a common ‘curfew’ period of ten years from the time the first volume appears before it is considered for inclusion. The selection criteria used in the table is the presently best available, but admittedly imperfect in many ways and should, of course, not be taken to imply anything about quality, academic significance or the relevance of the terms included.
Source The table is based on a privately owned but publicly accessible database available through ISI Web of Knowledge <https://isi3.isiknowledge.com/portal.cgi/wos>. A search for each term for all years (1953–2004) was made for published articles only. An element of discretion was applied as entities were deleted from the list of results if deemed irrelevant for the purpose of this chapter.
