An Empirical Research About How Geographic Proximity And Organisational Proximity Influence On The Innovation Of Industrial Clusters

With the rapid development and the important contribution for national and regional economic development, industry cluster has become the focus of many disciplines in recent years.Innovation is the source of the competitiveness of the industrial clusters. With the tacit knowledge and knowledge spillover theory proposed, the discussion of how to improve innovation in industry cluster begins to pay more attention to the new view of Dimensions of Proximity in the west counties.Compared with our country,the sutdies almost be a bank status,especially the empirical studies. Under the background mentioned above, this article will analyze the relationship of proximities and innovation from the view of Dimensions of Proximity.From Organizing the existing literature and clearing theoreties,this article will define the concepts of geographical proximity and organisational proximity. And organisational proximity divides into horizontal organisational proximity and vertical organisational proximity for empirical research creatively for the frist time.Based on the ill-defined concept of proximities.According to this reclassification and lots of related theories, this paper deducts the dynamic relationship between proximities and the innovation of industrial cluster. This relationship explains how those proximities works on the innovation of industrial cluster.Upon completion of the discussion about the mechanism between the industry cluster innovation and proximities, this article proposes five hypothesizes about the relationships between the geographical proximity, organisational proximity and cluster innovation. And the empirical tests to them are based on the data of 12 auto production groups of 6 automobile industry clusters in China for recent five years. The main methods used in this article are spatial econometrics and ordinary least squares (OLS).Comparing with the mathematical models , this paper can get following conclusions: Firstly, at the beginning and development phrase of automobile industrial cluster, geographic proximity has a positive influence on innovation appearence of industrial cluser. However, excessive geographical proximity will hinder industrial clusters innovation because of the "self-closed" and "lock in" phenomenons;Secondly, vertical organizational proximity has a negative influence on innovation appearence of automobile industrial cluser;Thirdly, the higher degree of horizontal organisational proximity means the growing convergence of different organizations and congnitions, ability of digestion and absorption of external knowledge sources and capacity of strengthened cooperation and competition phenomenon.So the horizontal organisational proximity will promote industrial clusters innovation performance;Moreover, there is substitution effect between geographical proximity and vertical organisational proximity,while complementary effect between geographical proximity and horizontal organisational proximity in automobile industry cluster ; Finally, the direct investment and the level of industrial cluster will promote the innovation performance of industrial cluster. And this article will put forward strategy analysis and policy suggestions to industrial clusters from the view of proximities,along with the automobile industry cluster.