?
Proceedings of the 7th International Conference “Innovation Management, Enterpreneurship and Sustainability”, 30 – 31 May, 2019
Purpose: Today many programs supporting clusters are introduced in Russia and other countries. The purpose of the research is to provide a relevant quantitative study assessing the effectiveness of cluster policy. Design/methodology/approach: In this paper, the effectiveness of Russia's cluster policy is analyzed using regression analysis. The survey covers data on 516 Russian enterprises divided into two groups: companies from supported clusters and firms that are members of similar but not supported clusters. To the classical variables of Cobb-Douglas production function (companies’ revenue, number of workers, capital of the company) we added cluster program dummy variable. The main question of the research is whether companies in supported clusters operate more effectively than other companies. Findings: The analysis provided quite interesting results. It was found that governmental support which was received by 27 innovative clusters didn’t have any effect on the revenue of the companies. This means that Russian innovation clusters work equally efficiently, regardless of whether they have government support. Research/practical implications: We have not found short-term effects on the enterprises associated with the supported clusters. The obtained results indicate that cluster policy conducted from 2012 to the present time requires adjustment. In this regard, the authors propose recommendations on further implementation of cluster policy. Originality/value: We have described the production function of Russian companies which work in the clusters. We have found that there is no significant effect on companies' output from government supporting of the clusters in Russia. Effectiveness of cluster policy has never been evaluated empirically before this research. Keywords: Cluster, Cluster Policy, Cluster Policy Impact Assessment, Innovative Territorial Clusters