Geography of international clusters in the Baltic region
Abstract
International cluster is a relatively new form of spatial organisation of economy in the globalisation conditions, which has become a frequent phenomenon in European countries, including those of the Baltic region. It requires a comprehensive study of both regional economics and economic geography. This article aims to identify structured international clusters in the Baltic region and map the corresponding regions. The results obtained will make it possible to get a comprehensive idea of the aggregate of international clusters existing and emerging in the region and put forward a hypothesis about the prerequisites of their formation. The methodological framework of the research is an integrated case study. The article considers the processes of transboundary and transnational regionalisation in the countries of the Baltic region aimed at the development of international clusters. ‘International cluster’ is defined as a new form of spatial economy. The author identifies and maps organised international clusters and cluster initiatives in the Baltic Sea region countries. The international clusters of the Baltic region are characterised according to the following criteria: the degree of geographical localisation, the organisational type of formation, and specialisation areas. The author analyses the degree of involvement of a Russian region into the processes of international cluster cooperation in the macroregion.
2. Dragileva, I. I., Zverev, Yu. M., Korneevets, V. S., Fedorov, G. M. 2006,Transgranichnaja kooperacija v Baltijskom regione [Cross-border cooperation in the Baltic region]. In: Baltijskij region kak poljus jekonomicheskoj integracii Severo-Zapada
Rossijskoj Federacii i Evropejskogo Sojuza [Baltic region as a pole of economic integration of the North-West of the Russian Federation and the European Union], Kaliningrad, Immanuel Kant State University of Russia, 392 p.
3. Leading web platform for European clusters, 2013, available at: http://www.clustercollaboration.eu (accessed 10.07.2013).
4. Välkommen till Göteborg-Oslo-samarbetet, available at: http://www.go-regionen.org (accessed: 19.12.2012).
5. Kaledin, N. V., Korneevets, V. S. 2007, Transgranichnoe sotrudnichestvo v Baltijskom regione — k novym prostranstvennym formam mezhdunarodnoj jekonomicheskoj integracii [Cross-border cooperation in the Baltic region — to the new spatial forms of international economic integration], Vestnik Sankt-Peterburgskogo universiteta [Bulletin of St. Petersburg University], Vol. 7, no. 3, p. 80—90.
6. Korneevets, V. S. Transnacional'nye i transgranichnye regiony kak specificheskie formy territorial'noj organizacii obshhestva [Transnational and cross-border regions as specific forms of territorial organization of society], 2010, doctoral
dissertation, Kaliningrad, 364 p.
7. Kuznetsova, T. Yu., Fedorov, G. M. 2011, Territorial'naja differenciacija demograficheskogo razvitija Baltijskogo makroregiona [The territorial differentiation of demographic development of the Baltic macroregion] // Vestnik Rossijskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta im. I. Kanta [Vestnik of the Immanuel Kant State University of Russia], no. 1, p. 131—137.
8. Mezhevich, N. M. 2004, Baltijskij region i Rossija na Baltike: specifika pozicionirovanija [Baltic region and Russia on the Baltic Sea: specificity ranking], 14 p., available at: http://www.ut.ee/ABVKeskus/publ/2004/VF-B.pdf (accessed 12.03.2013).
9. Metodicheskie rekomendacii po realizacii klasternoj politiki v sub'ektah Rossijskoj Federacii. Utv. Minjekonomrazvitija RF ot 26 dekabrja 2008 № 20636-AK/d19 [Guidelines for implementing cluster policies in the Russian Federation.
Approved by Ministry of Economic Development 26 December 2008 number 20636-AK/d19], 2008, Legal reference system «Consultant Plus».
10. Mikhailov, A. 2013, Development of International Clusters in the Baltic Sea Region, Baltic Region, no. 1, p. 37—46. doi: 10.5922/2079-8555-2013-1-4.
11. Smorodinskaya, N. V. 2013, Territorial'nye innovacionnye klastery: mirovye orientiry i rossijskie realii [Regional Innovation Clusters: World landmarks and Russian Reality], XIV Aprel'skaja mezhdunarodnaja nauchnaja konferencija «Modernizacija
jekonomiki i obshhestva» [The April XIV International scientific conference «Modernization of Economy and Society»], 2—5 April 2013, Moscow, available at:http://www.hse.ru/data/2013/04/11/1297354387/Smorodinskaya.pdf (accessed
12.03.2013).
12. Fedorov, G. M. 2013, Potencial sotrudnichestva Rossii i ES v innovacionnoj sfere na Baltike [The potential for cooperation between Russia and the EU in innovation in the Baltic Sea] // Regional'nye issledovanija [Regional studies], no. 3,p. 57—64.
13. Fedorov, G. M. 2013, Innovations in the Baltic Sea Region and Network Cooperation between Russia and the EU, Baltic Region, no. 1 (15), p. 4—18. doi:10.5922/ 2079-8555-2013-1-1.
14. Filippov, P. N. 2005, Internalizacija mezhotraslevyh kompleksov (na primere jenergeticheskih klasterov Severo-zapada Rossii i Finljandii) [Internalization interbranch complexes (for example, energy clusters in Northwest Russia and
Finland)], PhD thesis, Saint Petersburg, Saint Petersburg State University, 172 p.
15. Shastitko, A. 2009, Competitiveness of the region: content, factors, policies, Baltic Region, no. 1, p. 10—25. doi: 10.5922/2079-8555-2009-1-2.
16. European Cluster Observatory, 2013, available at: http://www.clusterobservatory.eu/index. html (accessed 06.07.2013).
17. Kompetenznetze, 2013, available at: http://www.kompetenznetze.de/service/
bestellservice/-medien/kurzstudie_internationalisierung.pdf (accessed 10.03.2013).
18. Mikhaylov, A. S. 2013, Case Study on the Structural Transformation of an International Cluster: European Perspective, Modern applied science, no. 7 (12),p. 1—8.
19. Mikhaylov, 2013, A. S. Internationalization cluster policy of the Baltic Sea region countries: formation of the international clusters, Report of the 4th International scientific conference on European Science and Technology, Munich, Vela Verlag, April 2013, p. 631—636.
20. The Bothnian Arc, 2013, European Commission, 20 p., available at:http://ec.europa.eu/ourcoast/download.cfm?fileID=907 (accessed 12.05.2013).
21. Topaloglou, L., Kallioras, D., Manetos, P., Petrakos, G. 2005, A Border Regions Typology in the Enlarged European Union, Journal of Borderlands Studies,no. 20 (2), p. 67—90.
22. Towards an EU strategy for the Baltic Sea region, 2013, European Commission,8 p., available at: http://ec.europa. eu/regional_policy/archive/consultation/baltic/
doc/organisation/bothianarc.pdf (accessed 12.05.2013).
23. Vækstcentret, 2013, available at: http://www.vaekstcentret.eu (accessed 20.04.2013).