Facilitating Cluster Evolution in Peripheral Regions: the Role of Clusterpreneurs

This paper discusses the feasibility and dilemmas in stimulating high-tech clusters in peripheral regions. In recent years innovation and cluster policy to a large extend has been focused upon stimulating collective learning processes and building social capital. This has in turn accentuated a need to focus on the carriers of the cluster policy. Despite this importance of the role of policy actors, research in cluster development and even cluster policy has generally not emphasized a more precise specification of this role. This paper contributes to this debate by substantiating the concept of “clusterpreneurs” defined as important actors in cluster formation. We illustrate the role of clusterpreneurs by the example of a biomedical technology cluster initiative in North Jutland, Denmark and point to the presence of different types of dilemmas connected with cluster policy. We show how the presence of clusterpreneurs can make this initiative more legitimised and embedded in the regional context, although dilemmas and challenges in the policy making still prevail. We furthermore find the mental and social proximity and agreements on common objectives among clusterpreneurs facilitated the support of the evolution of the cluster.