Policy-based clusters as institutions and laboratories of institutional change: the case of France

The objective of this article is to demonstrate that policy-based clusters can be seen as institutions and laboratories of institutional change. Taking the case of France where a national policy has been established with a set of common rules for 71 clusters, we explore and discuss these two hypotheses. Firstly, building on a case study of Medicen, a biotechnological cluster, we show that new formal and informal rules are being elaborated through a permanent interaction between the various cluster organisations and the cluster itself as an institution. Secondly, based on a statistical analysis of 71 French clusters, we reveal four categories of policy-based clusters as laboratories of institutional change. Even if common institutionalisation trends may appear at one stage, we argue that instead of homogeneity and isomorphism, the policy-based clusters are undergoing change and engendering variety on the long run.