The purpose of this research is to contribute to the debate on regional competitiveness concept by evaluating genesis of the studies of concept development, and the impact assessment. This paper also presents the impact of clusters on regional competitiveness through the experience of the Latvian Information Technology (IT) cluster. The methods used in the research are literature analysis, correlation and statistical analysis. The main tasks include: (i) the usage of competitiveness concept to describe main factors of regional competitiveness, (ii) identification of the role of clusters for regional competitiveness by testing the linkage between regional competitiveness and state of cluster development, (iii) presenting the experience of the Latvian Information Technology (IT) cluster and the assessment of advantages enterprises operating in the cluster environment. The novelty of the research is testing the relationship between regional competitiveness and state of cluster development, as well as introducing the assessment of the CEOs of the Latvian IT cluster enterprises on advantages of cluster environment. In addition, synthesis of the cluster’s concept has led to findings on mandatory and desirable features of clusters. The authors conclude that regions with higher competitiveness have better developed clusters, while regions with higher state of cluster development are more competitive. The experience of Latvian IT enterprises in the cluster’s environment recognize that more can be achieved by working together than if acting alone. However, benefits of belonging to cluster aren’t always recognized and exploited. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.eis.0.12.20846

中文翻译：

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通过群体的方法提升区域竞争力：以拉脱维亚信息技术集群为例

这项研究的目的是通过评估概念发展研究的成因和影响评估，为有关区域竞争力概念的辩论做出贡献。本文还通过拉脱维亚信息技术（IT）集群的经验介绍了集群对区域竞争力的影响。研究使用的方法是文献分析，相关性和统计分析。主要任务包括：（i）使用竞争能力概念来描述区域竞争力的主要因素，（ii）通过测试区域竞争力与集群发展状况之间的联系来确定集群对区域竞争力的作用，（iii）介绍拉脱维亚信息技术（IT）集群的经验以及对在集群环境中运营的优势企业的评估。该研究的新颖之处在于测试了区域竞争力与集群发展状况之间的关系，并引入了对拉脱维亚IT集群企业CEO的集群环境优势评估。此外，集群概念的综合导致发现了集群的强制性和理想特征。作者得出的结论是，具有较高竞争力的区域具有更好的集群，而具有较高集群发展状态的区域则更具竞争性。拉脱维亚IT企业在集群环境中的经验认识到，与单独行动相比，通过合作可以实现更多目标。然而，归属集群的好处并不总是得到认可和利用。DOI：http：//dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.eis.0.12.20846