Transformations  in
Business & Economics

EUROPEAN CLUSTERS: FACTS AND TRENDS
Diana Elena Creanga, Gavril Stefan, Gabriel Claudiu Mursa, Costica Mihai, Carmen Olguta Brezuleanu

ABSTRACT: Clustering represents the mainstay of regional development policies. Substantial sums have been allocated at EU level to finance clustering structures. The European Commission operates the European Cluster Observatory, an online hub for industrial clusters whose role is to support their work through dedicated services and the organization of matchmaking events. The purpose of this article is to analyze the geographical concentration of clusters by industry, year of establishment and the number of cluster members - with a focused analysis of the number of SMEs, number of start-ups among SMEs, Large Companies, R.O. Universities, number of civil society members and other Ecosystem Actors. The paper addresses the correlation between the number of clusters in a state and indicators such as Employment rate, Patent applications to the European Patent Office by applicants/ inventors/ country of residence, Employment in high- and medium-high technology manufacturing and knowledge-intensive services, GDP and Gross domestic expenditure on R&D by sector.

KEYWORDS:  clustering, regional development, regional innovation, collaboration, innovation.

JEL classification:  E24, J24, J64.