Intermediaries and capability building in 'emerging' clusters

This paper analyses the role played by intermediaries in consolidating the position of “emerging” resource-based cluster in exports markets. Through a purpose-built typology and detailed case study involving survey and interviews, the argument is made that intermediaries act not only to facilitate the diffusion of knowledge, but that in “emerging clusters”, their scope of activities, extending into coordinating joint actions and new investment initiatives, places them at the centre of the network of organisations. The growing influence of intermediaries in emerging clusters has implications for the governance of the cluster, especially in aspects such as inclusion of smaller producers in the process of capability building.