43. A Simulative Comparison of Output Commercial Value, Employment, and Pollution Levels Between a Chemical Cluster and a Standalone Aluminum Smelting Plant

Scholars and business practitioners have provided valuable insights into the clustering phenomenon and its impact on firms’ performance. Nonetheless, supporting evidence from the chemical industry remains underreported. Chemical enterprises undertake collaborative forms to overcome the weaknesses faced by individual organizations in an attempt to tackle production efficiency and operational risks. This paper provides a simulative comparison of output commercial value, employment, and pollution levels between a chemical cluster (consisting of five medium-sized chemical plants) and a standalone aluminum smelting plant, using the case study approach. The research objectives are related in identifying which option: (a) provides more total value of commercial products (production output multiplied by market prices) per megawatt (MW) of electricity, (b) creates more jobs per megawatt, and (c) has lower level of pollutants. The research approach combines quantitative secondary data and a set of in-depth interviews among managers of the chemical plants and other knowledgeable persons or field experts. Consequently, the study makes a relevant contribution to the cluster literature and proposes some useful recommendations for policy-makers and individual chemical firms. The empirical findings of the simulative comparative case study are not sufficient for making generalizations about any kind of cluster or industrial sector.