Cluster policy in the Basque country (1991-2002): Constructing 'industry-government' collaboration through cluster-associations

In this article the industrial cluster policy in the Basque Region (Spain) since the early 1990s is analysed as a social process, where public and private organizations and institutions have interplayed and fostered two interrelated outcomes: (a) the construction of cluster-associations, contributing to the development of inter-firm interactions and a more inclusive industrial associationism in the weak Basque industrial and business associative system; and (b) the construction of an industry-government collaboration dynamic within a traditional lack of industry-government interactive relations. These outcomes present some strengths and weaknesses, and indicate some potentials to improve the initiated regional 'industry-government' collaboration.