| Rural Knowledge Clusters
A number of notable rural success
stories suggests the possibility that rural communities can develop
their own centers of knowledge-based activity. The rural knowledge
cluster framework builds on Michael Porter's "Diamond of
Advantage" - Factor Conditions, (Home) Demand Conditions,
Related & Supplier Industries and Industry Strategy &
Rivalry - by placing added emphasis on the instrumental role of
accumulated and embedded knowledge as the driver of innovation
and competitive advantage.
Project concept
Context: The challenge of rural community vitality
in a global economy
Rural communities face tremendous challenges in adapting to a
knowledge-based global economy. The "knowledge economy"
is characterized by an increasing importance of human capital,
and competitiveness is based on the ability to innovate. Traditional
rural economic staples are under growing pressure due to globalization
of markets, and diseconomies of scale and outmigration hinder
adjustment in the rural economy. Consequently a growing gap between
urban and rural economic performance has emerged.
Rural knowledge clusters as a model of rural innovation
Yet examples of prosperous rural economies can be found in Minnesota
and elsewhere. Can a model of "rural knowledge clusters"
help explain these examples? Rural knowledge clusters are innovative,
interrelated groups of firms located outside metropolitan areas,
deriving competitive advantages through accumulated, embedded,
and imported knowledge among local actors and institutions. The
dynamism of rural knowledge clusters can be explained in terms
of three factors:
Competitive advantage: current factors related to supply or demand
conditions, related industries, or local rivalry that give local
firms a market advantage.
History: an historical base of knowledge about an industry or
technology that has given rise to current sources of competitive
advantage.
Institutions: formal and informal institutions that develop around
clusters to support the creation, diffusion, and import of knowledge.
Project descriptions
USDA Fund for Rural America
SLPP and the Freeman Center for International Economic Policy
received a grant from the USDA Fund for Rural America for a project
entitled "Globalization and Knowledge Clusters for Rural
America." As part of this project, SLPP has undertaken a
series of studies on how rural knowledge clusters operate in Minnesota.
Read Year
One report or the Year
Two report
On September 13-14, 2002, SLPP and Freeman Center hosted the
conference Rural
Community Vitality in a Global Economy where research
from the Fund for Rural America project, as well as related research
and perspectives from around the country, were presented. View conference report.
On September 13-14, 2004, SLPP brought together leading academics, policymakers, practitioners and financiers at the Conference on Knowledge Clusters and Entrepreneurship in Regional Economic Development. The agenda, papers, and speaker bios from the conference are also available.
Snapshots of rural innovation: A compendium of rural
industry cluster vignettes
Businesses tend to cluster, to locate near other similar or complementary
companies to achieve external economies of scale. Business clusters
in the U.S. are often associated with population centers. In rural
areas, however, clusters can be just as effective in promoting
the economic health of an area, but never appear on the radar
screen formed by common measures. This study draws on other measures
of knowledge to produce a sample of rural clusters. The vignettes
in this compendium are collected by Regional Technology Strategies,
Inc. with support from the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public
Affairs at the University of Minnesota under a grant from the
U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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report
Developing rural knowledge indicators
The purpose of this report is to describe and illustrate a range
of possible indicators of the presence of knowledge workers and
knowledge-based industry clusters in rural communities. Until
now, the study of knowledge-based industries has focused primarily
on relatively large industry clusters, composed of many firms,
and employing thousands of workers in large metropolitan areas.
Detecting and documenting the presence of knowledge-based industry
clusters in rural areas is more difficult because their scale
is so much smaller. We have developed an extensive list of candidate
indicators, which are generally neutral with regard to industry,
i.e. they measure knowledge creation without regard to whether
it is particular to one industry or not. Our primary focus is
on traded sectors of the economy, those businesses that sell their
goods and services in competition with firms in other locations.
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report
Exploring the role of institutions in NW Minnesota's
recreational vehicles cluster
The framework for rural knowledge clusters, which essentially
promotes the idea that the competitive advantage found in vital,
rural economies is the result of specialized knowledge, incorporates
two key concepts. The first is that such clusters “exhibit
a path of historical development and evolution to the local knowledge
base.” The second is that both formal and informal institutions
may foster “the creation, diffusion and renewal of the local
knowledge base.” The purpose of this report is to extend
the State and Local Policy Program's preliminary examination
of Northwest Minnesota and the recreational vehicles industry
cluster first identified back in 1998. In particular, the study
seeks to explore the relationship between the specialized knowledge
base associated with the cluster and regional institutions.
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report
Minnesota States Colleges and Universities (MnSCU)
This project, completed for the MnSCU NetWORK for Customized
Training, Education, and Development, examined three rural knowledge
clusters in Minnesota (Mankato, Thief River Falls/NW Minnesota,
and Alexandria), with particular emphasis on the role of community
and technical colleges, and broader policy implications for the
MnSCU system.
Read Rural
Knowledge Clusters: Implications for Minnesota State Colleges
and Universities
Economic Development Administration (EDA)
SLPP received a grant from the EDA to complete a literature review
on rural knowledge clusters as part of its "Review of Economic
Development Literature and Practice" series.
Read Rural
Knowledge Clusters: The Challenge of Rural Economic Prosperity |
