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Mapping a nation of regional clusters

Harvard Business School U.S. Economic Development Administration
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  • Data by Cluster

    A cluster is a regional concentration of related industries that arise out of the various types of linkages or externalities that span across industries in a particular location. The U.S. Benchmark Cluster Definitions are designed to enable systemic comparison across regions. View and compare clusters across the U.S.

    View Data by Cluster
  • Frequently Asked Questions

    How do I compare different clusters on a national level?

    How do I find my region’s strongest cluster(s)?

    How do I identify which cluster my industry belongs in?

    How do I compare local vs traded clusters?

    Are there overlaps between the clusters?

  • Data by Region

    A region is broadly defined as a county, economic area (EA), metro/micropolitan statistical area (MSA), or state. The U.S. Benchmark Cluster Definitions use the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis defined economic areas. View and compare regions across the U.S.

    View Data by Region
  • Frequently Asked Questions

    How do I compare different regions?

    How do I build a region to meet my needs?

    How is my region doing, especially in comparison to its peer regions?

    How do I find subregions related to my region?

    How do I use the map view to visualize economic data across the country?

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  • Community

    The Community of Practice enables practitioners to share Resources, post Blogs, and find partner Organizations. View and contribute content of interest to the cluster based economic development community.

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  • I am an Economic Developer

    Are you trying to determine a strategy for your organization, region, or industry? Then follow our Economic Developer path.

    Follow Economic Developer Path
  • I am a Policymaker

    Are you hoping to effect change in the economic landscape through federal, state, or local government policy choices? Then follow our Policymaker path.

    Follow Policymaker Path
  • I am an Academic or Researcher

    Are you interested in learning more about clusters and conducting action-oriented research? Then follow our Academic or Researcher path.

    Follow Academic or Researcher Path
  • I am in the Private Sector

    Are you looking into the economic competitiveness of a region through the lens of the private sector? Then follow our Private Sector path.

    Follow Private Sector Path
  • Data by Cluster

    A cluster is a regional concentration of related industries that arise out of the various types of linkages or externalities that span across industries in a particular location. The U.S. Benchmark Cluster Definitions are designed to enable systemic comparison across regions. View and compare clusters across the U.S.

    View Data by Cluster
  • Frequently Asked Questions

    How do I compare different clusters on a national level?

    How do I find my region’s strongest cluster(s)?

    How do I identify which cluster my industry belongs in?

    How do I compare local vs traded clusters?

    Are there overlaps between the clusters?

  • Data by Region

    A region is broadly defined as a county, economic area (EA), metro/micropolitan statistical area (MSA), or state. The U.S. Benchmark Cluster Definitions use the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis defined economic areas. View and compare regions across the U.S.

    View Data by Region
  • Frequently Asked Questions

    How do I compare different regions?

    How do I build a region to meet my needs?

    How is my region doing, especially in comparison to its peer regions?

    How do I find subregions related to my region?

    How do I use the map view to visualize economic data across the country?

  • Organizations

    View Organizations
  • Blog

    View Blog
  • Resources

    View Resources
  • Community

    The Community of Practice enables practitioners to share Resources, post Blogs, and find partner Organizations. View and contribute content of interest to the cluster based economic development community.

    View Community Page
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  • U.S. Cluster Mapping
  1. Resources
  2. Economic Policy
Economic Policy
Academic Research

The Competitive Advantage of Nations

by cmp.admin Wed, 09/22/2021 - 05:21

National prosperity is created, not inherited. It does not grow out of a country's natural endowments, its labor pool, its interest rates, or its currency's value, as classical economics insists.

A nation's competitiveness depends on the capacity of its industry to innovate and upgrade. Companies gain advantage against the world's best competitors because of pressure and challenge. They benefit from having strong domestic rivals, aggressive home-based suppliers, and demanding local customers. 

  • Read more  → about Blog Rivet

Economic Policy
Academic Research

The Competitive Advantage of Nations

by cmp.admin Wed, 09/22/2021 - 02:41

National prosperity is created, not inherited. It does not grow out of a country's natural endowments, its labor pool, its interest rates, or its currency's value, as classical economics insists.

A nation's competitiveness depends on the capacity of its industry to innovate and upgrade. Companies gain advantage against the world's best competitors because of pressure and challenge. They benefit from having strong domestic rivals, aggressive home-based suppliers, and demanding local customers. 

  • Read more  → about Blog Rivet

Cluster
Economic Policy

Responding to Manufacturing Job Loss: What Can Economic Development Policy Do?

by cmp.admin Mon, 11/24/2014 - 11:04

America has lost millions of manufacturing jobs since 1980, which has been a serious economic blow to many U.S. metropolitan areas.

In response, metros have pursued an array of economic development strategies, some aimed at protecting or enhancing their manufacturing base, others at diversifying their local economies and attracting new kinds of industries, particularly service firms. 

  • Read more  → about Blog Rivet

Economic Policy

Real Banking for the Real Economy: Comparing Sustainable Bank Performance with the Largest Banks in the World

by cmp.admin Mon, 10/27/2014 - 15:05

Five years after the financial crisis began in earnest with the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the negative impact from a damaged banking system on the real economy continues to be felt. Continued stress in the global financial system provides the backdrop to high levels of unemployment, low levels of business borrowing, and unsustainable public finances in many countries. At the same time the impact of climate change increasingly challenges communities coping with a changing environment.

  • Read more  → about Blog Rivet

Economic Policy

Evaluation of the U.S. Small Business Administration's Regional Clusters Initiative, Year Two Report

by cmp.admin Fri, 11/15/2013 - 12:02

The Regional Clusters Initiative is a pilot program launched in September 2010 by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) to promote and support 10 regional industry clusters across the United States. Clusters act as a networking hub to connect large firms, researchers, regional economic organizations, investors, and small businesses.

  • Read more  → about Blog Rivet

Economic Policy

Clusters and Competitiveness: A New Federal Role for Stimulating Regional Economies

by cmp.admin Fri, 11/15/2013 - 12:02

Regional industry clusters represent a potent source of productivity at a moment of national vulnerability to global economic competition, which has put the nation's capacity for generating stable, well-paying jobs for many U.S. workers at risk. While the federal government has supported cluster development, the current programs are inadequate for bolstering competitive regions and competitive clusters in particular.

  • Read more  → about Blog Rivet

Cluster
Economic Policy

The Federal Role in Technology Cluster Formation

by cmp.admin Fri, 11/15/2013 - 12:02

Clusters are a key element of technology-based economic growth policy aimed at boosting the nation's technology clusters, which are regional concentrations of technology R&D and production, including pools of skilled labor, research facilities, and partnership mechanisms for research and production scale-up. This economic and policy analysis brief from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, an agency within the U.S.

  • Read more  → about Blog Rivet

Economic Policy

2008 National Summit on American Competitiveness

by cmp.admin Fri, 11/15/2013 - 12:02

Hosted by the U.S. Department of Commerce, the 2008 National Summit on American Competitiveness held in Washington, DC on September 18, 2007 gathered the nation's premier leaders in business, government, and academia to address steps that the public and private sectors should take to help secure America's competitive position in the global economy. Core components and lessons included education and workforce issues, energy independence, and partnerships in innovation. Participants included former U.S.

  • Read more  → about Blog Rivet

Economic Policy
Tools and Technical Documents

Competitiveness Index: Where America Stands

by cmp.admin Fri, 11/15/2013 - 12:02

This 2007 report by the Council on Competitiveness benchmarks current U.S. competitiveness against twenty years of domestic and global economic data. The baseline year of 1986 was chosen because it marked the beginning of cyclical expansion in the domestic economy, a high dollar, and an exploding trade deficit, which put the concept of competitiveness on the national agenda. It also marked the creation of the Council on Competitiveness. The report is a wide-ranging assessment of how the changing global economy presents new challenges for the future.

  • Read more  → about Blog Rivet

Economic Policy

Fifty Ways to Leave Your Competitiveness Woes Behind: A National Traded Sector Competitiveness Strategy

by cmp.admin Fri, 11/15/2013 - 12:02

This report from the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation suggests that the U.S. can boost its competitiveness by targeting the health of its traded sectors. Offering 50 federal policy recommendations for reviving traded sector establishments with examples including Boeing and Walmart, the report calls for a comprehensive strategy organized around the “4 Ts” (technology, tax, trade, and talent) to strengthen the ability of U.S. traded firms to compete in the global market.

  • Read more  → about Blog Rivet

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The U.S. Cluster Mapping Project is led by Professor Michael E. Porter at the Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness, Harvard Business School.

This project is funded by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration.