Mining Cluster Development in Peru: Learning from the International Best Practice

In recent years, businessmen, researchers, and policy makers alike have become fascinated by clusters, as it is believed that clusters can play a noteworthy role in enhancing the well-being of poor communities by means of increasing national competitiveness, fostering employment specialization, improving innovation and productivity, and helping regional economies grow. Clusters in Peru are considered to be in the first stages of development; to the point that we can consider there are no actual functional clusters. Given that the mining industry in Peru represents one of the main economic sectors of the country, the main purpose of the present paper is to investigate the common critical factors of success of three mining clusters from three different continents, through case-based reasoning. As such, the paper highlights the key challenges and relevant policy implications for fostering mining cluster development in Peru, in the light of the evidence identified and within the pattern called “the Four Clover”. The findings of the present paper can be used to assist policy makers to design more agile mining cluster policies and strategies that will lead to the creation of mining clusters in Peru. Business managers will also benefit from the results in terms of improving their capability of making more informed decisions regarding the adoption of a cluster approach.