Clusters in designing S3-oriented policy

Enhancing economic performances of regions is currently perceived as a priority. Given these needs, the role of regional clusters has been recently coupled with the concept of Smart Specialization Strategy (S3). This paper aims at contributing to the debate on the role of clusters in the arduous implementation of S3, towards investigating the potentials of the clusters life cycle (CLC) and spatial analysis to guide the Entrepreneurial Discovery Process (EDP). This argument is theoretically discussed on the base of literature evidence. Firstly, the concept of S3, its relation to clusters and the emerging EDP gaps are presented. Secondly, the potentials of CLC and spatial analysis are investigated by (i) studying the literature and selecting a set of indicators, accounting for clusters stage-specific and spatial attributes. (ii) framing the indicators into a model and providing a qualitative judgment of their strength at each stage of the CLC (iii) interpreting the model towards testing whether the CLC and spatial analysis display the potential to input EDP. The authors find that CLC and spatial analysis can play a significant role towards supporting EDP operationalization. This finding calls for the consideration of policymakers as a valuable source of information towards tackling EDP gaps.