Introducing the T-shaped model of cluster competence – an integrative framework and first empirical evidence from the German craftsmen sector

Abstract

Kirch (2017): Introducing the T-shaped model of cluster competence -an integrative framework and first empirical evidence from the German craftsmen sector, Industry and Innovation To link to this article: http://dx. ABSTRACTAlthough cluster research has been an enormously vivid field in the past years, the idea that firms' individual competences influence the knowledge gain from collocation is still under-researched. In this paper, we aim to fill this gap in two steps. First, we derive four firm-specific cluster competences from existing literature as key components of a T-shaped model which is based on the resource and the relational view on knowledge spillovers. Second, we evaluate the explanatory power of our model in terms of firm success by conducting empirical testing on the basis of several logistic regressions in the form of proportional odds models. For this purpose, we use a hitherto unexploited firm-level data set, gained from a survey conducted among small and medium-sized craft businesses in Germany. The results provide evidence that idiosyncratic cluster competences on the firm level are supportive of firm success in business clusters.

A New Model of a Spatial Structural Map for Re-Building Urban-Rural Links

“…In contrast, local planning involves the bottom-up participatory approach "micro-to-meso" perspective, which takes account of the regional embedded socio-economic structures (Pissourios, 2014). On the meso level, clusters and networks innovations are strongly supported, owing to clusters as a specific type of network concentrated in a particular geographical area (Tomenendal, Raffer et al, 2018). Precisely, spatial cluster structures refer to the interaction "cooperation and coordination" of all producer actors and stakeholders with a spatial structure that forms an integrated network in a specific region (Khodabandehloo, 2014;Wanzenböck, Scherngell et al, 2015).…”