The role of economic cluster perspectives in regional economic development

The importance of science and technology as the root of exceptional regional economic development has been extolled since the time of Schumpeter. Today emerging technologies are signaling the start of a new economic cycle where regions that are effective in technology translation will gain advantage. The will of policymakers to translate technology into regional job and wealth creation seems to be at an all-time high. Yet an improved process for translating technical development into regional prosperity has proved elusive. If there are no processes other than applying techniques that have worked in the past for other regions to a new region then there is cause for concern. Here the authors seek to add to this field of knowledge by applying elements of the varied cluster theories to provide a basis for policy for regional economic development by turning science and technology into commercial innovation. We provide a review of current cluster theories and discuss the positive and negative issues associated with each. We propose a model that allows interested professionals to utilize aspects of each cluster perspective geared to the realities of their specific area