Purpose

This study aims to further develop the CLC stage/path’s identification model that distinguishes between path’s emergence (emergence stage), path’s development (growth stage), path’s sustainment (maturity stage), path’s decline (decline stage) and path’s transformation (renewal stage), and by applying it, define the current stage/path of the Demarcated Douro Region (DDR) cluster. The Port wine industry, which is the dominant industry of the DDR cluster, is at the maturity/decline stage – is the same for the cluster itself?

Design/methodology/approach

It is a case study with a longitudinal perspective based on the analysis of the dynamics of the parameters of cluster evolution using available secondary sources (cluster identity/brand; number of firms; number of employees; network; innovation; policies and regulations; and external markets – exports), especially addressing the past decade, that represent the stage of maturity/decline of the cluster’s dominant Port wine industry.

Findings

The conclusion is that since the 1990s the Demarcated Douro Region has gone through a “path transformation” where during the following 20 years new “anchors” for the cluster were gradually introduced, such as Doc Douro Wines, new forms of consumption of Port wine, tourism and olive oil. Since 2010 the cluster has entered a growth stage/(new) path’s development, where these “anchors” are in steady growth. The Douro brand is becoming more internationally recognized and established, the number of firms and employees is increasing, the network is restructuring with the creation of cluster-specific official institutions, innovation is especially reflected with increasing heterogeneity through diversification of the clusters into new activities and regulations and policies are supportive for expansion – all these parameters are indicating the rise of the new cycle for the cluster. Thus, the DDR cluster represents an attractive business environment and requires attention from regional policymakers to support the cluster’s development. Especially institutions have been highlighted as internal factors driving clusters growth, European integration as an external factor and firms’ strategies of diversification and internationalization as an appropriate de-locking mechanism for new path’s development.

Research limitations/implications

This research contributes to the CLC theory by further developing and applying a CLC stage/path identification model. It provides a better understanding of the dynamics of the DDR cluster that diverge from its dominant industry life cycle, which is relevant for regional policies and firms’ strategies. This study has its limitations. It provides an exploratory application of the theoretical framework proposed, and consequently, no general conclusions are possible yet. More empirical studies with different clusters in different stages are necessary to test the framework.

Practical implications

These findings are useful to policymakers when designing their policies for cluster development but also for clusters’ entities and actors when making their strategic decisions as it allows based on the verification of the established parameter of CLC to identify its current stage/path of development.

Originality/value

The paper presents a theoretically grounded model for CLC identification and for the first time to the best of the authors’ knowledge applies it to a cluster case – the DDR cluster. This case applies the proposed model and illustrates its usefulness. The model provides the tools for a better understanding of cluster dynamics.

中文翻译：

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杜罗葡萄酒集群的新增长

目的

本研究旨在进一步发展CLC阶段/路径的识别模型，区分路径的出现（出现阶段）、路径的发展（成长阶段）、路径的维持（成熟阶段）、路径的衰落（衰退阶段）和路径的转变（更新阶段） ，并通过应用它来定义划界杜罗区域 (DDR) 集群的当前阶段/路径。波特酒产业作为DDR集群的主导产业，正处于成熟/衰退阶段——集群本身也是如此吗？

设计/方法论/途径

这是一个纵向视角的案例研究，基于利用可用的二手资源（集群身份/品牌、企业数量、员工数量、网络、创新、政策和法规以及外部资源）对集群演化参数的动态进行分析。市场 - 出口），特别是过去十年，代表了该集群占主导地位的波特酒行业的成熟/衰退阶段。

发现

结论是，自 20 世纪 90 年代以来，划定的杜罗河地区经历了一次“路径转型”，在接下来的 20 年里，该集群逐渐引入了新的“支柱”，例如 Doc Douro 葡萄酒、波特酒的新消费形式、旅游业和橄榄油。2010年以来，集群进入了成长期/（新）发展路径，这些“锚”正在稳步增长。杜罗品牌在国际上得到越来越多的认可和认可，企业和员工的数量不断增加，随着集群特定官方机构的创建，网络正在重组，创新尤其体现在通过集群多元化开展新活动和增加异质性。法规和政策支持扩张——所有这些参数都表明集群新周期的崛起。因此，DDR集群代表了一个有吸引力的商业环境，需要区域政策制定者的关注以支持集群的发展。特别是制度被强调为推动集群增长的内部因素，欧洲一体化作为外部因素，企业多元化和国际化战略作为新发展道路的适当解锁机制。

研究局限性/影响

这项研究通过进一步开发和应用 CLC 阶段/路径识别模型，为 CLC 理论做出了贡献。它可以更好地了解 DDR 集群与其主导产业生命周期不同的动态，这与区域政策和企业战略相关。这项研究有其局限性。它提供了所提出的理论框架的探索性应用，因此目前还无法得出一般性结论。需要对不同阶段的不同集群进行更多的实证研究来测试该框架。

实际影响

这些发现对于政策制定者在设计集群发展政策时非常有用，而且对于集群实体和参与者在制定战略决策时也非常有用，因为它允许基于对 CLC 既定参数的验证来确定其当前的发展阶段/路径。

原创性/价值

本文提出了一个基于理论的 CLC 识别模型，并据作者所知首次将其应用于集群案例——DDR 集群。该案例应用了所提出的模型并说明了其有用性。该模型提供了更好地理解集群动态的工具。