Hong, Sam Gi2007-07-312007-07-312007-06https://hdl.handle.net/1794/4544Examining committee: Michael Hibbard, chair, Renee Irvin, Donald HoltgrieveThe cluster has become one of the most popular regional economic development approaches since Michael Porter published his landmark book. Following Porter’s approach, Oregon is trying to develop regional industries from the cluster perspective. First, this paper introduces Porter’s theory to explain the cluster’s popularity in the era of globalization. Second, to find Oregon’s competitive advantages and disadvantages, this research analyzes three clusters (high tech, forest, and food and agriculture) that were identified as Oregon’s three biggest clusters from a previous study. The analysis finds that the three clusters are competitive in terms of employment growth and employment concentration rates. However, it also finds that the clusters cannot provide higher wages for their workers than their national competitors because they do not rely on innovative technologies that differentiate their products. Lastly, this paper suggests policy recommendations that can contribute to Oregon’s competitive advantages for general industries.76487 bytes279289 bytesapplication/pdfapplication/pdfen-USThesis