Triple Helix influence on competitiveness factors: Comparison between wine clusters in Brazil and Chile

The performance of clusters has been linked in several studies to their historical and geographical contexts as well as to the drivers that shape the competitive strength of nations. Among these drivers, the human factor and universities play a key role in the competitiveness of nations, as well as that of industries, regions, and firms. In the new knowledge economy, the Triple Helix model is a mechanism of coordination that brings together government, industry and universities. The main objective of this paper is to analyze the Triple Helix influence on the competitiveness factors of clusters as proposed by Zaccarelli, Telles, Siqueira, Boaventura, and Donnaire (2008). An analysis has been performed to verify how the Triple Helix axes influence the competitiveness factors of wine clusters by comparing the Chilean Valle del Maule to the Brazilian Serra Gaucha. The theoretical framework is that of the Triple Helix, coupled to Zaccarelli et al.’s (2008) model. The method employed was the multiple case study and data was collected from secondary sources. The main results indicate that only four out of Zaccarelli et al.’s (2008) eleven model factors of competitiveness are influenced by the three axes of the Triple Helix. The main contribution of this paper is to bring together the Triple Helix and competitiveness. There are nevertheless analytical and methodological constraints.