Clusters in a Cold Climate: Innovation Dynamics in a Diverse Economy

As Canada emerges from the recent economic downturn, both established and emerging industrial clusters face the challenges of meeting rapidly changing demand and cost conditions and increasing national and international competition and financing an accelerating pace of innovation. Clusters in a Cold Climate examines how eight industry clusters across Canada influence the innovative dynamics of their constituent firms by helping them access resources and markets, manage economic uncertainty, and adapt to market changes. Contributors underline a number of key themes: the contribution of both local and global sources of knowledge to innovation within the clusters, the powerful role of external markets in stimulating innovative behaviour, the interaction between key elements of the research infrastructure and innovative firms, and the complex but essential role that various aspects of public policy play in influencing cluster dynamics.