Competitive regional clusters : national policy approaches.

In today's globalizing world, the regional specializations built up over decades are transforming rapidly. Many regions that were historically production centers in a given sector are losing out to lower-cost locations and reorienting to higher value-added niches. National programs to promote cluster-based approaches - linking firms, people and knowledge at a regional level - are being used to meet the challenge. This report analyzes the objectives, targeting, instruments and inter-governmental role sharing used by 26 programs in 14 OECD countries.--Publisher's description.  Read more...