The Support Structure of the Biomedical Clusters: Research, Intermediary, and Financial Organizations

Abstract

The previous chapter discussed the divergent cluster performance in Ohio and Sweden as perceived by the firms in these clusters. In this chapter we address the same questions from a different perspective. More precisely, here the purpose is to examine the supporting structure of organizations in the biomedical cluster in Sweden and Ohio. There are two reasons for this focus. First, it is apparent from the interviews in Chapter 5 that the differences in cluster performance are related to the supporting organizations in each region. Second, previous research has emphasized the role of organizations, such as universities and venture capitalist firms, as important for growth and industrial dynamics (Dosi 1988; Saxenian 1994; Carlsson 1995 and Stankiewicz 1995; Eliasson 1997; Braunerhjelm 2000). Thus, the analysis is extended to the similarities and differences in the composition of the organizational support structure of the biomedical cluster in the respective regions, why it differs, and what the implications are for the growth of the biomedical cluster.