Explaining ICT Infrastructure and E-Commerce Uses and Benefits in Industrial Clusters: Evidence from a Biotech Cluster

Abstract

The literature on industrial clusters has not focused heavily on the role of the ICT infrastructure, nor on the potential implications of electronic commerce . In this paper, we examine the theoretical bases for bringing these research streams together, and develop expectations for how firms in an industrial cluster might utilize and derive benefit from a public, broadband ICT infrastructure, particularly in support of e-commerce applications. A case study of a successful biotech cluster in Denmark and Sweden — the Medicon Valley — provides a preliminary test of these expectations. Distinctions in uses and benefits based upon firm size are considered. A key finding is that small firms that would not otherwise be expected to gain from global e-commerce can rely on the cluster "brand" to enable trade with unknown and distant partners.