Levy, Rachel

Empirical studies on clusters: What research is out there? Bringing an interdisciplinary vision to bear - 2024.


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This article presents a literature review of studies drawing on the cluster concept, based on an analysis of 186 articles published in the fields of economics, management, and geography in journals indexed in the Web of Science and citing Porter’s original 1998 article. This work illustrates the fact that the use of very general concepts in Porter’s original definition results in very varied interpretations of each of the three dimensions he sets out. With regard to the methodologies used, this work shows that the majority of empirical articles dealing with clusters do not use quantitative methods, but rather propose qualitative explanations for cluster development and evolution. Finally, this work shows how the cluster concept needs to be observed through an interdisciplinary lens.