The Role of Innovative Clusters in the Process of Internationalization of Firms

Abstract

This article focuses on innovative clusters and the role they play in the process of business engagement into foreign markets. This concept falls into the network approach of firm's internationalization, according to which an enterprise may internationalize when it develops a set of exchange relationships. One of the specific forms of network is cluster, with geographical and sectoral concentration as the key characteristic distinguishing it from other kinds of network structures. The aim of the article is to examine the role of clusters for innovation activity and for facilitating the process of internationalization of firms. The study shows that the latter may happen twofold: through clusters influence on affiliated company's internationalization behavior from the one side and by increasing location attractiveness of the regions for foreign direct investments from the second side.