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Do public interventions for innovation hit their targets? Evaluating cluster organisations in Northern Central Sweden

Directorate General for DG Regional Policy

New methods for Cohesion Policy Evaluation: Promoting Accountability and Learning

Warsaw 30 November & 1 December 2009

RV NÄRARB 080923 Berlin


Evaluation of cluster organisations in Northern Central Sweden

NUTS 2 Northern Central Sweden embraces three regions with about 1 million inhabitants EU Structural fund makes a contribution with 170 million Euros 2007-2013 Comprehensive aim is servicedriven growth; 6 000 new jobs and 3 000 new companies Focus of evaluation on 14 cluster organisations with 600 companies and 60 000 employees Used effects measurement method is triangulation - A mixed method design


Care of Measuring Cluster Effects - Registered Trademark

- The used effect measurement method is triangulation combination three different approaches:

- A) Shadow controls meaning that companies are asked to estimate effects - B) Process tracing meaning that the social processes between intervention and results are

followed to ascertian causual linkages - C) Generic controls: time series scores for cluster companies are compared to average scores

in some equivalent larger population


Effects of The Paper Province and The Competence Area

The Paper Province 90 comp.- 9 000 employees, Compare 100 comp. 3 000 employees Process tracing - Compare Testlab, The Packaging Greenhouse Shadow controls - Willingness to grow Compare 78 %, The Paper Province 68 % Generic controls – Compare 2 297 new jobs more growth than the average in Sweden Generic controls – The Paper Province 783 new jobs while rest of Sweden has cut down


Results 2008

Cooperation R&D• Expanded cooperation, universities 47 %• Expanded R&D-cooperation, companies 15 %

Innovation• New products and services 65 %• Optimized products and services 70 %

Growth• Expanding business 34 %• Expanding employees 20 %


Constraints regarding evaluation

Cluster organisations need to show good results otherwise risk of less public funding

Universities do not want to be interfluenced by political aspects

For electoral reasons, regional politicians do not want to show poor results from their

decisions


Pros and cons of The Care of Measuring Cluster Effects

Strength; Triangulation provides more validity to the findings Strength; Focus on the users of public funding – The companies Strength; A holistic perspective Weakness; Demands resources probably best used in larger programmes Weakness; Only used fours years and in one country – Sweden Challenge: Further refinement of the method Challenge; Adjusting the method to other parts and users in the European Union


Final comments

The need of discernment of actors who can support the innovation flow Cluster development and cooperation with academia is a way to a knowledge based

economy Challenge 1) Connection between EU regional development and EU research programmes Challenge 2) Increased cross border cooperation in Europe Challenge 3) Extended project periods from 3 years to 5-8 years Challenge 4) Sustainability, gender and integration as growth factors in projects


Contact data for evaluation and measuring of cluster effects

Region Värmland homepage: www.regionvarmland.seE-mail: [email protected]: + 46 54 701 10 32, + 46 70 618 77 51

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