ABSTRACT
Much of the recent work within economic geography has emphasized the benefits of spatial proximity, agglomeration and collaboration for innovation-oriented firms, resonant with the work of Porter (1990) on high-tech clusters (Asheim & Cooke 1999; Cooke & Morgan 1998; Keeble 1999; Longhi 1999; Maskell et al. 1998; Niosi 1999; Patchell 1993). Firms located within high-tech clusters are thought to benefit from localization economies and knowledge spillovers accruing from their proximity to other firms in the same or associated industries, and are embedded into the cluster through traded (material) and untraded (informational and cultural) interdependencies (Angel 1994; Braczyk et al. 1998; Gertler 1995; Henry et al. 1996; Maillat et al. 1995; Saxenian 1994; Sternberg 1996; Storper 1999). These clusters offer local firms spatially-bounded advantages that are external to the firm but internal to the region and are therefore deemed unattainable by firms located outside of the cluster. These advantages may include: access to a local source of high quality components; protection in the local market-place from distant competitors; access to a local natural resource or human skill-set; the benefits of an explicit regional economic policy; proximity to a key research institution; or the benefits of shared business customs that underpin cooperative behaviour within the cluster (Grabber 1993; Brazyck et al. 1998; Storper 1999). For independent, single plant firms, a location within a high-tech cluster may be crucial for accessing complementary resources that cannot be derived internally.
