Home – Home – Jornals – Region: Economics and Sociology 2020 number 3

According to most studies, companies and regions benefit from clustering, which is instrumental in making the cluster concept widely accepted. Still, there is a severe and tangible gap between theory where clusters play an important economic role and practical ability to develop initiatives that would help clustered businesses become more competitive and stimulate their growth. This article aims to show through the case study of a region that it is essential not only to establish a foothold in advanced technologies and industries but also to understand whether cluster dynamics are viable in this region’s economy. We show that the existing methods of assessing cluster projects do not fully reflect the positive impact of cluster synergies: not all participants in a cluster can assess their performance within the group, the effectiveness ofextra-cluster interactions is not evaluated at all, the nonlinear nature of the effects, as well as the time lag and uncertainty of external factors, are not taken into account. We have quantified the impact of innovation clusters on regional economic development based on the case of Altai Krai in 2017. The research focuses on the economic performance dynamics of AltaiBio as the oldest cluster in Altai Krai. Since 2015, it reveals a growing share of unprofitable enterprises in the cluster and a steadily declining share of profitable ones. At the same time, profits at some large and medium-sized enterprises are dropping quite sharply, which significantly affects such a financial indicator of the cluster as net profit. The cluster then loses its primary source of funding for joint projects. It explains why government support is critical, especially when clusters are first being formed.