Cluster information disclosure in strategic planning of region'S economy

The article represents the results of the analysis of existing approaches to describing economic clusters. These approaches use self-dependent characteristics that complicate evaluating and comparing clusters. Consequently, the author offers the concept of information disclosure of a cluster and its overall indicator. This indicator enables to evaluate clusters, to define a stage of their functioning and to compare results of their activity with other clusters. The existing Russian methods of describing clusters form the basis for this article. These methods are proposed by the Cluster observatory of Higher School of Economics and the Geographic information system “Industrial Parks, Science and Technology Parks and Clusters” of the Russian Federation. The author singles out three aspects of characteristics: attributive, quantitative, qualitative. The characteristics used for calculating the overall indicator of disclosure are quantitative and qualitative. They are generalized and unified using indicators of the project of the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation “Development of the Innovation Clusters - Leaders of World-Class Investment Attractiveness”. The author offers two approaches to using the information disclosure indicator: dynamic and reference. The dynamic approach enables to define a stage of cluster development using the relation of the current condition to the previous one. The reference approach defines cluster development in relation to a standard that describes its global competitiveness. Both offered approaches can be used by regional and federal government bodies as well as cluster management for taking strategic decisions on the region development.