Economic Growth and Innovation: Lessons in Knowledge Sharing From Bioscience Clusters in Ohio and Puerto Rico

摘要

Although regional industrial clusters have been widely researched, our understanding of knowledge creation and dissemination as a driving force for cluster competitiveness remains unclear. This article examines the nature, utilization, evolution, and effects of knowledge sharing in regional clusters by comparing two industrial regional bioscience clusters at different stages of development: first, by focusing on the everyday experiences of each cluster's local agents, and second, by empirically investigating the impact of specialized knowledge on firm performance in each cluster. Contrary to most of the existing research, foreign direct investment (FDI) by multinational companies (MNCs) can affect the development of local entrepreneurial ecosystems, and spatial structure is not a significant factor in the knowledge creation and dissemination process in clusters. Firm-level knowledge absorption capabilities, social networks, and knowledge spillover mechanisms, in contrast, correlate significantly with an increase in the creation of specialized knowledge in clusters.