20.500.12556/ReVIS-12943 Revisiting cluster organizations as drivers of public-private cooperation in Central and Eastern Europe Central and Eastern Europe continue to generate incremental innovations, slow rates of technology commercialization, and exhibit limited public-private collaboration in research and development. This paper examines the role of cluster organizations as intermediaries, particularly in bridging the knowledge transfer gap between industry and research. Employing qualitative comparative analysis methodology, this exploratory paper highlights the conditions that foster industry-driven collaboration. As a mixed research method that is novel to cluster research, it provides a fresh perspective on how companies establish and maintain connections with research centers. The analysis investigates the associations between the hindering and facilitating factors of cooperation within cluster organizations (conditions) and the prevalence of business-initiated collaboration with research organizations (outcome). The results indicate that structural, socio-behavioral and power dynamics factors influence the patterns of cooperation between these two types of actors. However, to contribute to the advancement and continuity of these relationships, intermediary actors should prioritize addressing the power imbalances to secure strategic cooperation that can lead to regional structural and systemic transformations. The results provide evidence for policy implications, emphasizing the importance of simplifying early-stage technology transfer procedures and reducing administrative obstacles to enhance clusters’ mediator role in an innovation system. cluster organizations industry research organizations fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis innovation collaboration grozdne organizacije industrija raziskovalne organizacije mehka množnica kvalitativna primerjalna analiza sodelovanje pri inovacijah true true true Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik Neznano 2026-01-15 13:45:21 2026-01-15 13:45:21 2026-01-16 03:10:47 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2025 0 0 Published online: 20 November 2025; str. 1-24 issu. Vol. 20 November 2025 0000-00-00 PostprintKoncna Objavljeno NiDoloceno 2024-05-30 2025-10-12 2025-11-20 332.1(4-191.2) 0173-7600 264858115 10.1007/s10037-025-00263-x https://doi.org/10.1007/s10037-025-00263-x 1 0f913fbd-f210-11f0-94a7-001a4af901a5 https://revis.openscience.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=15274 s10037-025-00263-x.pdf s10037-025-00263-x.pdf 1 6E77A99F57614F79621B555572F2D80C e7959d1f364ee664b60465984a32ecb612e0dd5cd356d8cc557e4183625e0900 16a69d15-f21c-11f0-94a7-001a4af901a5 https://revis.openscience.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=15280 Fakulteta za informacijske študije v Novem mestu 0 0 0