These are notes from introductory survey lectures given at the Institute for Studies in Theoretical Physics and Mathematics (IPM), Teheran, in 2008 and 2010. We present the definition and the fundamental properties of Fomin-Zelevinsky’s cluster algebras. Then, we introduce quiver representations and show how they can be used to construct cluster variables, which are the canonical generator...

During the last decades, industrial districts have been at the forefront of academic and policy-making debate as important players of the economic development of small and medium sized companies in many countries. Nevertheless, a number of factors have strongly damaged these networks and questioned their competitiveness. Literature suggests that district governance is a proper solution to these...

This study explores the impact of knowledge stock and knowledge centrality, which are the two main characteristics of innovative start-ups’ entry technologies in the local knowledge base, on firms’ technological innovation and diversification. It tests the hypotheses with patent and firmlevel data of innovative start-ups in Shanghai Information Communication Technology cluster from 1985 to 2009...

The application of complex network theory can clearly reveal the coopetition activities between inter-members in software industrial virtual cluster. The research result shows that neither simplex cooperation nor competition,but it is a kind of dynamic equilibrium of coopetition. The empirical is analyzed by using the example of cloud computing. In the process of coopetition evolution, the dist...

The purpose of this paper is to explore conceptually the role of clusters for the economic recovery of old industrial regions. We will identify three types of clusterbased renewal, distinguishing between an innovation-oriented adjustment of mature clusters (incremental change), the emergence of new agglomerations in established industries (diversification) and the rise of knowledge intensive an...

This paper presents a procedure for studying industrial performance and related issues such as changes in the wage structure. This procedure combines cluster analysis and discriminant analysis as a package, and applies this package to time series data. This enables us to organize industrial data into groups with similar wage or performance histories and then to extract summary time-series showi...

In recent years, industrial wireless networks (IWNs) have been transformed by the introduction of mobile nodes, and they now offer increased extensibility, mobility, and flexibility. Nevertheless, mobile nodes pose efficiency and reliability challenges. Efficient node deployment and management of channel interference directly affect network system performance, particularly for key node placemen...

While much has been written on the successes and failures of industrial policies, systematic evaluation of their effects remains difficult. This paper presents an approach based on a combination of cluster and discriminant analysis, applied to time-series of the rate of change of average wages by industry. We apply this approach to a Korean data set that may be one of the most comprehensive nat...