The Formation of Economic Clusters as a Factor for Enhancing the Competitiveness of the Economy of the Republic of Moldova. Summary of the Doctoral Thesis in Economic Sciences

Abstract

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK OF THE RESEARCH. Relevance and importance of the research topic. The competitiveness of the national economy is an essential factor in a country’s economic development and prosperity and is directly influenced by the performance and productivity of enterprises. In the context of intensifying competition, enterprises continuously modernize their products, services, and processes in order to maintain their competitiveness. However, many enterprises, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, have limited financial, technological, and human resources to support innovation and modernization processes independently. Under these conditions, cooperation among enterprises and their interaction with research institutions, public authorities, and other organizations facilitate access to complementary resources, knowledge, and skills. Economic clusters represent a model for organizing cooperation that is becoming increasingly widespread both in the business environment and within economic and regional development policies. The effectiveness of this model is supported by empirical research findings, which highlight the contribution of clusters to improving enterprise performance, intensifying innovation activity, and, consequently, fostering economic development. For the Republic of Moldova, the role of clusters is particularly relevant given the structural constraints affecting national competitiveness, reflected mainly in low labour productivity, enterprises’ limited access to technologies, skills, and resources for modernization, and limited innovation capacity. These conditions require a shift towards an economic development model based on sustainable sources of competitiveness, such as knowledge, innovation, and effective use of human capital. Economic clusters can support this transition by fostering higher value-added activities and strengthening enterprises’ capacity to compete in external markets. In this context, research on economic clusters as a factor in enhancing the competitiveness of the Republic of Moldova’s economy is particularly relevant. At the same time, the long-term viability of clusters requires them to be firmly grounded in the economic realities of the national and regional context. It is therefore necessary to identify territorial concentrations and economic specializations that can provide the foundations for the formation and development of functional clusters. Such clusters cannot be created artificially or through the mere replication of international models; rather, they need to be grounded in the structure of the economy, territorial specificities, and existing or potential relationships among economic actors.