Identifying and Assessing the Factors that Influence Clusters' Competitiveness in Oregon, and Some Initial Suggestions
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Date
2007-06
Authors
Hong, Sam Gi
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Department of Planning, Public Policy & Management, University of Oregon
Abstract
The 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.
Description
Examining committee: Michael Hibbard, chair, Renee Irvin, Donald Holtgrieve