Entrepreneurship, Clusters and Societal level Outcomes

HECTOR ROCHA

Congreso; Academy of Management; 2013

Clusters and entrepreneurship are attracting an increasing amount of intellectual energy and financial resources. However, research on their joint impact on regional development is hampered by the wide diversity of conceptual and theoretical approaches. We develop an integrated theoretical model to investigate whether clusters moderate the relationship between entrepreneurship and regional development. Distinguishing between industrial agglomerations and clusters, we use a socioeconomic approach to integrate disparate theories based on their underlying assumptions. We conclude that regions with clusters show a stronger relationship between entrepreneurship and regional development. Before competitive shocks, regions with diversified clusters are more resilient than regions without diversified clusters. Implications for academics and policymakers are proposed.