集群社会资本与集群内企业成长——一个经验案例研究

Cluster Social Capital and Its Impact on the Growth of Firms within the Cluster:An Expirical Case Study

集群社会资本包含了个体社会资本(资源)和集体社会资本(能力)两个部分,是集群环境的主要构成部分之一。集群社会资本对集群内企业的成长有重要的影响。本文根据对我国西部某童鞋企业集群的案例研究,深入探讨了集群社会资本在集群内企业成长中的作用机制。研究发现,集群内的企业在成长过程中可以从企业家的个体社会资本网络中获取关键客户、人力资本等资源,从而推动企业成长。但个体社会资本对企业成长的作用存在局限性,如果集群内未能形成信任、合作规范和紧密网络等有效的集体社会资本,则群内企业成长所依赖的集群环境无法真正形成,企业的成长也将受到限制。为促进集群内企业成长,需要实现集群内个体社会资本与集体社会资本的融合。

This paper first clarifies the concept of cluster social capital, defining it as containing both individual - level （resource） and collective- level （capability） social capital, and the cluster social capital has important effects on the growth of firms within the cluster. The impact mechanisms of cluster social capital on the growth of firms within the clus- ter are further explored based on a case study of a cluster of child shoes company in the west of China. It is found that the firms within the cluster can develop by absorbing resources such as funds, techniques and customers from their indi- vidual -level social capital. However, the effects of individual -level social capital have their own limits. If the cluster cannot build up the collective - level social capital, including good trust, dense networks and norms for cooperation, the preferred cluster environment for the growth of firms will not be built up either, which in turn will have a negative impact on the growth of both the cluster and the firm. Therefore, the growth of firms within the cluster needs a combination of both individual- level and collective- level social capital.