Industry Cluster Research

The phenomenon of industry cluster , which is also refered to as"economic mosaic"phenomenon widely exsits in today's world economic system. Industry clasters have become a new economic scenery that follows the tide of economic globalization when one nation should root in local industry clusters rather than a few large international businesses to obtain competitive advantage. The advantage of industry clusters has surpassed the low-cost advantage and becomes the significant drive to attract foreign investment. World Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development is actively advocating and spreading the developemental strategy of local industry clusters. In many nations and regions, industry cluster has being or is becoming the new focus of industrial development. Poter has interpreted in his research on regional competitiveness as followed: a new production organizing form called"cluster"is dominating the world economic territory, which makes persistent competitive advantage in global economy root in lacal factors that cannot be duplicated by distant competitors, such as knowledge, relationship and coporation strategies.The emergency of industry clusters is the product of new industry organizing structure phenomenally; while from the perspective of the essence of productivity development, it is the substantial change of industry behavior that was brought forth by the rapid development of globalized social production methods and information technology. This change led to fundamental reform of production organizing pattern accordingly and realized the transformation from so called Ford's pattern of assemble line production to after-Ford's computerized agility organizing form. Because many regions adapted to new requirement of productivity development, they realized the innovation of industrial organizing form and thus obtained the competitive advantages when taking part in globalized economy. In this process, wide application of modern network information techonology provides technological support for corporation to change traditional cooperative pattern. Based on network and information, the new industry organizing forms, such as the cooperation of supply chain and regional integration, virtual net organization and industry cluster, can integrate external resources more efficiently. Eventually, it can achive"area economy", learning, innovation and agility production.I. Research Path and Major ContentThere are two major paths existing in industrial economy research, thereinto, the Structure—Conduct—Performance analyzing pattern of Harvard School was based on new classic economism and has been always the core and basic analyzing frame of industrial organization theory. After 70s, it was modified into two-direction dynamic SCP pattern by some scholars. Accordingly, Chicago School paid more attention to market behavior of manufacturers. They held that market behavior or market performance determines the market structure and stresses behavior analysis and reduction of govement intervention. This thesis is based on traditional structuralism of Harvard School and organically absorbs the behaviorism core of Chicago School and logic circulation and feedback methods of new industrial organizing theory. The thesis increases the connotations of new economy, such as technology, information, learning, innovation and long-term game so as to establish a dynamic multicirculation research pattern.(as showed in the following figure)The thesis will mainly follows the logic of defining concepts—arranging basic literatures---analyzing the theories of industrial structure, industrial behavior and industrial performance---practical research of Chinese industry clusters. The thesis can be divided into eight parts. The main content is basically following traditional structure, behavior and performance of industrial economics to carry through gradually. The thesis organically combines the qualitative analysis of theories and quantitative study of practices, and combines the theories of industry cluster and the practical analysis as well as political molds of Chinese industy clusters'development. The main content of the thesis:The first chapter is introduction to the research context and the value of theoretical study. The author summarizes and puts up some representative results of theoretical and practical research, and designs the basic research frame and technical path as well as major research contents and methods. At last, the author concludes the innovations and limits of the research.The second chapter defines and analyzes the problems exsited in the research of industry cluster, including summary of representative concepts in industry cluster, interpretation of the qualities and traits in industry cluster, classification of industry cluster according to research purposes and interpretation of different types.The third chapter is comprehensive literature summary. The author makes different interpretation of industry cluster, Industrial Economics, Economic Geography, Management and Sociology. Thereinto, as for Economics, the author mainly discusses traditional classic Economics incuding Division of Work Theory, Transaction Cost and System Transformation Theory in System Economics and etc.; as for Economic Geography, the author discusses earlier Industrial Region Theory and modern theory of industry cluster and Convergency Economics; as for Regional Economics and Industrial Economics, competitiveness and strategy theory, main competence theory, global value chain theory and industrial module theory are described in the thesis; as for Sociology, the author analyzes culture, social net, social capital and rootedness theory.The forth, fifth and sixth chapters are the main body of the thesis, separately studies organizing structure of industry cluster, industrial behavior and economic performance. The forth chapter mainly studies the structure and organization of industry cluster. The organizing structure characteristics of various industry clusters are analyzed, as well as the possible impacts that different industrial behavior and economic performances have on structure of industry cluster.The fifth chapter is the research of industrial behavior. In this chapter, combining the techonoly, information, game theory of new industrial organizing theories and rootedness theory of Sociology, the author analyzes three distinctive behaviors in industry cluster including the competition and cooperation; credit, authority and resources allocation; and learning and innovation. Finally, the author makes a relatively thorough study of knowledge overflow, learning and innovation in industry cluster according to the traits of information economy.The sixth chapter researches the performance of industry cluster. This chapter divides the performance of industry cluster into operational cost, static scale economy, area economy, dynamic innovative performance and corresponding risks. Different types of cost and their mutual effects and balance are analyzed from the broad sense, such as production cost, transaction cost, learning cost and social cost. Based on the analysis of different types of performance income including scale economy, area economy and dynamic innovative efficiency of industry cluster, the author makes feedback analysis of layout and structure of industry clusters and studies the effects of different performance on the development of industry organizing structure. Finally, the author analyzes the risks of industry cluster and designs the corresponding risk preventing system. From the seventh chapter, the thesis comes into the practical research part. Based on combining relative research theoryies, the author analyzes different identifying methods and technology of classic industry cluster. Combining with the practical situation in China, the author designs a set of identifying and evaluating systerm for industry cluster with the theoritial and practical significance.Finally, the auther discusses the political module of Chinese industry cluster and applies the four types of analysis which are the centralizing degree analysis reflecting the industrial structure; analysis reflecting the market behavior, Location Quotient of performance, and professional level; the Spatial Gini Coefficient of industry analysis reflecting the condition of industry cluster; and new Index of Industry Concentration analysis, then makes quantitative study on China's current condition of industrial organizations and clusters. As a complementarity, the author analyzes the impact of current work force and capital flow in China on industry cluster. Eventually, the author makes depictive analysis on the condition of China's industry cluster and discusses the political modules of reginal economy and industry cluster's development.II. Innovations in this ResearchIndustry cluster is the hotspot of reginal economic development theory and plenty of domestic and oversea expers have made substantial contribution on this. Based on the research outcomes made by former experts, the innovatioan of the thesis is demonstrated in the following aspects:1. Based on the classic Harvard School's SCP ananlyzing frame, the thesis absorbs the behaviorism's scientific core of Chicago School and increases some new economy connotations such as network, information, learning and innovation, thus establishes a dynamic and multi-circulation SCP research frame.2. The thesis highly emphasizes the statistic analysis of China's industry cluster and spares one chapter to study the identifying and statistic index system of industry cluster, considering that study is the foundation and premise to scientific study of China's industry cluster. The author holds that the lack of thorough, systematic and accurate statistic data, as well as the neglect of statistic analysis on industry cluster, are the important problems needing recognition and quick settlement. The author thoroughly concludes the fundamental methods of industry cluster identification and establishes a set of evaluation index system of industry cluster covering 39 indexes in four dimensionality---basic situation, public infrastructure, resources and competence.3. The author makes multi-perspectives practical study on China's current centralizing condition of industry cluster, traces back to the history of the development of industry cluster and makes reasonable explaination to it. As for data used in research, one part of it uses domestic universal index,while most is consistent with the international research model. As for analyzing methods, the author applys not only the internationally used Spatial Gini Coefficient method, but also latest Index of Industry Concentration method. Therefore, a thorough, scientific and systematic description of China's current industry cluster is made on an macro level.4. The thesis highly focuses on the significantly cultural, social and historical impacts of one region on the emergency and development of industry cluster, and puts forward that cultural, social and historical factors should be useed as important affecting factors when studying the dialectic relationship between industry cluster and certain region. Thereby, the cultivation and enhancement of industry cluster can inosculate with the overall strategy of one region's continuable development.III. Limits of ResearchIn the theoretical analysis and practical study, the author does his best to make the thesis to be scientific and precise, however, due to the limits of research resource and other factors, the following limits are existing in the thesis:1. The author has made field investigation on several local industry clusters and has a better cognition and understanding, however, because of short of broad and deep study of industry cluster, the congnition of many problems is most based on the plenty of classic literature and theoretical deduction. As a result, it is hard to avoid that the interpretation of some situation and characteristics in industry cluster is not thorough.2. The author always holds that the city is the best object to study industry cluster, however, owing to the lack of statistic data, the provincial region can only be used as research object which will affect the depictive analysis of industry cluster's characteristics at some degree. Based on the same reason, binary classification of industry cluster is somewhat rough. If corporational data is applied, city is regarded as object and ternary classification as standard, the research results will be better.3. In the research of evaluation index system of industry cluster, because there has been no systematic and authoritative statistic data in the field of industry cluster research, theoretical discussion of evaluation index design is made, but corresponding test on this index system is not carried on. This will be a big pity in the thesis.4. In China, there is no dout that attracting foreigh business and capital and local industrial policies play a significant role in the emergency and development of industry cluster. Considering the research perspective and technical path, the author does not make special research, but this doesn't mean these factors are not important.