Governance structures in clusters: A case study on software cluster in the state of São Paulo

Cluster Governance concerns the way of coordination, control, intervention and involvement of actors from local arrangement. Owing to substantial increase of the importance of public policy in clusters, it´s important to understand the dynamics of stakeholder participation in these arrangements. Thus, this study aimed to analyze the governance structure at the Ribeirão Preto´s Software Industry. In order to achieve that, were conducted in-depth interviews with arrangement´s actors to identify the different influences on the coordination of the arrangement. The interviews results showed: a) governance influencied positively the cooperation and business development, b) the development of the cluster depends, in the case analyzed, in much of the private governance, c) powerful actors and holders of coordination mechanisms, determine the relationships, resources and rules, proposing new institutional orders. In the end, this study contributes to the understanding of governance relations between the actors and their consequences for the arrangement.