Małgorzata Niklewicz-Pijaczyńska

University of Wrocław

Poland

m.niklewicz@prawo.uni.wroc.pl

the role of clusters in stimulating

breakthrough innovation in enterprises

Małgorzata Wachowska

University of Wrocław

Poland

mawachow@prawo.uni.wroc.pl

ABSTRACT. The subject of this article is the role of clusters in increasing breakthrough innovation of their member enterprises.  The aim of the article has been to investigate to what extent entering and operating within a cluster stimulates breakthrough innovation in enterprises.  is aim has been achieved on the basis of comparative analysis of the number of patent applications of enterprises in 1990-2012, separately for the periods before and after the beginning of cooperation within the cluster. The study covered enterprises belonging to clusters in the Lower Silesia region (Poland). The results of the study suggest that there is no positive relationship between the enterprises being members of a cluster and their breakthrough innovation.

Received: March, 2014

1st Revision: April, 2014

Accepted: May, 2014

DOI: 10.14254/2071-8330.2014/7-1/5

JEL Classification: O3, O32, R11

Keywords: cluster, breakthrough innovations, patent applications, Poland