Comparing Top-Down and Bottom-Up Cluster Initiatives from a Principal-Agent Perspective - What We Can Learn for Designing Governance Regimes

The paper compares the governance regimes of top-down and bottom-up cluster initiatives by using a classic principal-agent framework comprising task setting, assignment of decision rights, performance evaluation, and incentive system. The Bavarian Cluster Initiative, a top-down initiative, is used as a reference point and compared with the governance regimes of German and Austrian bottom-up clusters. The paper shows that differences in task setting and other elements of the principal-agent framework can lower the effectiveness of top-down clusters.

Find here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF03396911