Clusters Models, Factors and Characteristics

Abstract

The industrial cluster concept has become a subject of intense research studies and economic analysis starting with the study conducted by Michael E. Porter regarding the competitive advantage of nations. This concept is an economic phenomenon that is placed in a competitive context in which many businesses simultaneously compete and collaborate to gain different economic advantages. The economic advantages of successful real economic clusters has proves an important reason for the increased attention that this economic model has received from the scientific community and the governmental structures. Despite the advances in cluster research, its model remains a complex one and something that it’s hard to reproduce in a real economic environment. The paper highlights typologies of clusters, models of determinant factors and its characteristics by doing a survey of the cluster literature. The research is conducted starting with the analysis of the cluster concept, based on different accepted descriptions. From this point there are summarized the main characteristics and are described models of cluster determinants. The objective of the paper is to highlight the importance and advantages of clusters but also the complexity of the cluster model mainly because of its complex determinant factors.