The present paper focuses on creative clusters in Poland. Its main goal is to determine the factors behind the establishment of creative clusters and the factors limiting their activity. The study is based on data provided by cluster facilitators, and the CATI and CAWI methods are used for analysis. The study shows that the most important factors contributing to the creation of clusters are internal: the willingness to cooperate, especially between knowledgeable entities, and to strengthen market position and the range of influence. The barriers are: reluctance to share knowledge, the advantage of rivalry over cooperation, poorly perceived flow of employees in clusters (internal factors), as well as dependence on external financing and lack of interest on the part of local government units (external factors).
The objective of this paper is to demonstrate how the development of European peripheries can be strengthened by cooperative clusters, viewed as loose business organizations where cooperation of partners results in a synergy effect. The existence of clusters in peripheral areas may give efficient solutions to many problems, such as unemployment or the need of restructuring regional economy. Partnership of clusters may add up to their competitiveness thanks to the home demand. The present paper presents an example of the Lubelskie Region, the most neglected region in Poland. It is argued here that cooperation among local clusters provides a chance for an increase in the region’s social activity and for its economic growth.
The article discusses the extent to which the national (Polish) cluster-based policy reflects scientifically-based industrial cluster identification methods as well as policy selection criteria. The framework of the current Polish cluster-based policy is discussed, followed by the presentation of eight well-grounded cluster identification methods. A four-level qualitative scale was used to determine the degree of compliance of 17 selection criteria with the identification methods. Only insignificant links were found in such criteria as “critical mass” (the number of the cluster members and the cluster structure), “concentration” (the number of the entities acting within some distance from their coordinator) and “economic cluster’s potential” (employment rate and sales values).
This article aims at creating the foundations for a coherent theoretical concept of cluster structure, meeting high requirements of a continuously changing area of social sciences. Such a concept should provide an opportunity to make comparisons between clusters of various branches and at various stages of development. To construct such a theory, a modified and supplemented Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of capital was used, putting large emphasis not only onto stricte economic sources of influence in the cluster but also onto human beings and their activities, which influence the operation of cluster structure to the greatest degree.
