Cluster evolution and a roadmap for future research

Abstract

There is increasing recognition that the existence of clusters can only be understood when studying their dynamics over time (Audretsch and Feldman 1996; Pouder and St. John 1996; Swann et al. 1998; Maggioni 2002; Brenner 2004; Iammarino and McCann 2006; Menzel and Fornahl 2010; Ter Wal and Boschma 2011). In fact, clusters may be best understood as products of a path-dependent process (Martin and Sunley 2006). In that context, scholars have described the main features of cluster development over time, and have explored the driving forces behind their evolution. In their seminal contribution, Menzel and Fornahl (2010) proposed a cluster life cycle model in which firms enter and exit the cluster, capabilities of cluster firms develop and interact (and might converge), and inter-organizational linkages within and beyond the cluster are established and dissolved along the cluster life cycle