Regional closure of knowledge transfer in cluster organisations in Western Poland

In many studies of clusters – currently a topical subject matter of many regional analyses – authors indicate that the spatial proximity of economic agents positively influences the possibility of cooperation and knowledge exchange (both spontaneous and purposeful). However, geographical proximity can be understood differently: it depends on conditions characteristic of countries and regions. In this paper I investigate to what extent knowledge transfer links, created by agents of clusters during formal cooperation, appear within, or reach outside, the administrative regions of Western Poland. To that end, I create an operational definition of “regional closure” with an equation for measuring it. The results prove that although most links in cluster organisations are created within regions (on NUTS-2 and NUTS-3 level), their spatial range depends on the line of business and type of projects implemented by a cluster.