Industrial Cluster Involvement and Product Innovation: An Empirical Study in International Industrial Clusters
Kuei-Hsien Niu, PhD

Abstract
Researchers in strategy and organization theory are increasingly investigating the relationship between industrial clusters and organizational competitiveness. Many industrial clusters in the world play vital roles in the development of advanced technologies and innovations. By applying cluster and network related theoretical foundations, this study examines critical elements of a firm’s cluster involvement and its expected product innovation performance. An empirical study of four high technology industrial clusters in U.S. China, Taiwan and Sweden reveals the relationships between a firm’s cluster involvement and innovation. Based on the results, this study concludes that greater involvement in an industrial cluster can promote a firm’s product innovation outcomes, but the nature of the innovation benefits depend, to a large degree, on the type of cluster involvement.

Full Text: PDF