ABSTRACT
Inter-firm relationships are receiving an increasing amount of economic and research interest from several different perspectives. This study integrates three fundamental aspects: inter-organisational networks, clusters and spin-offs. The networks perspective stresses the role of social networks to explain a firm’s economic activities. That is, within the social networks approach, and based on the structure of social relationships, we would be referring to the use of concepts such as cooperation and the ties among the individuals in organizations.
Other perspectives focused on territorial models, such as clusters, study the impact of the geographic proximity of firms and institutions. The firms that belong to these networks enjoy a competitive advantage over their external competitors. The theoretical foundation underlying this competitive advantage has gradually been developed and proximity is analysed in all its dimensions: It is not just a matter of being close but also of sharing identifying elements.
Last, spin-offs have received quite a lot of attention in the academic, business and political fields, often in relation to the formation of new firms in such important sectors as those related to technology. A spin-off is frequently seen as a new organization that is set up upon the basis of another.
Within this context, the general aim of this study is to describe and compare the characteristics of the information and communication technology (ICT) clusters in the province of Barcelona, in Spain, and Santa Catarina, in Brazil. From a review of previous literature, it can be seen that although territories or clusters have already been addressed in a number of studies, as have inter-organizational relationships, little empirical research has been carried out on the formation of new firms via spin-offs in this kind of geographical context. Our research consists of a study of the characteristics in the ICT sector by comparing two clusters in different countries, Brazil and Spain. The comparative data from Brazil and Spain suggest the existence of similar characteristics with a predominance of software development activity conducted by means of SMEs in both countries, following a tendency found worldwide. Likewise, some differences can be observed as regards entrepreneurship and the later creation of spin-offs, Brazil being seen to have a more enterprising profile.
