Identifying Clusters – A Review of Methodological Approaches

Although a seemingly intuitive concept, the identification of clusters involves a number of complexities linked to (1) the cluster definition (the industry boundaries) and (2) the spatial determination of clusters. Over the last 20 years, researchers have proposed a range of methods to address both aspects. The choice of cluster identification method will depend on the policy question, geographical context, type of industries under investigation and, importantly, data availability. A combination of Delgado’s et al. (2016) cluster definition method and Feser’s et al. (2005) method for identifying geographical concentrations would usefully inform many policy contexts