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Cluster Development Conception and Future Effective Approach in Croatia

The main purpose of this chapter is to explain main economic conception and benefits of cluster development for national economy. Clusters present a geographical nearby group of interconnected companies and associated institutions in a particular region that stimulates the creation of the innovations and new knowledge. The research highlights essential benefits that cluster bring its members: better access to employees and suppliers ; access to specialized information ; complementarity ; access to institutions and public goods ; and better motivation. The important point is that clusters allow participants to be more productive and more innovative than they would be to operate alone. As cluster development has many benefits for national economy and its competitiveness, its development is especially very important for countries with large regional disparities, like Croatia. Therefore, a particular part is focused on cluster development in Croatia. The chapter concludes with key issues and recommendations for further cluster policy development. The future effective approach in cluster development in Croatia should take into account: stronger networking among SMEs ; strengthen technology transfer and innovation ; clear criteria relating to the competitive potential of the cluster and not ad hoc ; define better set of policy instruments in Croatia to support the establishment and development of cluster organizations, etc. In the most of the case studies analyzed, it was clear that cooperation between enterprises, government and the university sector were critical to the success of clustering initiatives (“the triple helix model”). There is strong evidence which suggests that in Croatia this is not the case. There is an urgent need to address the incentive structure to encourage universities to engage more closely with SMEs and cluster organizations to foster innovation, technology and knowledge transfer.

cluster development, cluster model, Croatia, institutional support, policy

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