Technological Clusters Application to the Grande Porto Region

EconomiaMaster in EconomicsThe general objective of this work is to study the conditions of the Grande Porto region (standing for Greater Porto ), in northern Portugal, regarding the formation of clusters of firms in knowledge- and technology-intensive areas. This overall goal is accomplished by means of several elements, as follows. Three emerging clusters are referred by the North Region Operation Programme (2007-2013 period) as having a very relevant presence in the Norte NUTS II region, in which Grande Porto is contained: ICT, Electronics, and Electrical Machines and Material; Health, Medical Devices and Pharmaceutics; and Biotechnology and Agri-Food. The high level of concentration of each of these clusters in the Grande Porto region is herein evaluated and confirmed. In addition, several other industries (or groups of related industries) with a significant critical mass in the region, possibly forming a technological cluster or with the potential to become one, are identified. An assessment of Grande Porto in terms of its preparedness to the knowledge economy is also performed, revealing some of its main strengths and weaknesses in this domain. Finally, it is worth mentioning two of the main enabling tools of these tasks. On the one hand, a methodology is defined in order to measure the level of agglomeration of every industry or policy-supported cluster in the region. On the other hand, a set of face-to-face interviews with several key regional actors provides valuable inputs into the presented study