THE ROLE FOR CLUSTERS IN IRISH ECONOmIC DEVELOPmENT POLICY

AbstRAct Irish policymakers interest in the concept of industrial clusters dates back to the Culliton Report, which recommended the promotion of industrial clusters focused on niches of national competitive advantage. This view of agglomeration economies based on industrial clusters derives largely from the work of Michael Porter. Given the widespread use in the term ‘cluster’, Doyle and Fanning review the evolution of this concept, and outline the international and Irish evidence regarding the existence of Porterian clusters. The authors conclude that while there is little evidence that such clusters have had a significant effect on productivity growth in Ireland, the research to date has been inadequate, and has been hampered by a lack of appropriate data