The Influence of Industrial Clusters and Place on Innovation and Entrepreneurial Behaviour

Abstract

Responses from a questionnaire survey of wine and tourism businesses operating in regional clusters were analysed using factor analysis. These suggested three factor scores relating to entrepreneurial behaviour; four factor scores relating to cluster activities and attributes; and three factors relating to the respondents' personal characteristics. The three entrepreneurial behaviour factor scores were interpreted as: innovator, calculator and venturer. These were used as dependent variables in regression models. The independent variables were the cluster and personal characteristics factor scores, industry and place. The central result was that the cluster activity variables did not have a significant impact on the innovator behaviour variable, which contradicts the standard view. Cluster activities and attributes were found to attract entrepreneurs of the calculator kind, and to a lesser extent, of the venturer kind. Place did seem to offer an attraction to entrepreneurs beyond those offered by the intensities of the cluster activities and attributes.

Keywords

entrepreneurial behaviour industrial clusters tourism industry wine industry Australia

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