产业集群的非正式联系及其对技术创新的影响——以顺德家电产业集群为例

Informal ties in industrial cluster and its impact on technological innovation: A case study of household appliance cluster in Shunde

产业集群企业之间建立在各种正式与非正式联系上的技术交流与合作是集群企业技术创新的重要基础。然而,长久以来产业集群的非正式联系在西方主流的技术创新的研究文献中一直被忽视。本文通过对顺德家电产业集群30家企业的问卷调查和深度访谈,总结了产业集群的非正式联系的三种类型,即企业衍生形成的非正式联系、人才流动形成的非正式联系、长期合作建立在信任基础上的非正式联系。通过进一步研究发现,不同类型的非正式联系对于集群企业技术创新有着不同的影响。前两者对技术创新的影响主要体现在技术信息与知识的传递,而后者主要体现在使企业之间产生了一种技术上的共同理解和认识,能够提高企业之间技术合作的成功率。

Many case studies of industrial clusters indicate that the technological exchange and cooperation among the firms based on all kinds of formal and informal ties constitute the basis of technological innovation of firms in the industrial cluster.Most of the studies from economics,management and organization sociology mainly focus on formal ties of innovation such as research consortia,strategic alliances,technology license.However,research on informal ties of innovation like spin-offs and talent mobility has been neglected for a long time.Based on literature review of studies on informal ties in economic geography,this paper proposes an analytical framework of industrial cluster,informal ties and technological innovation.On the ground of questionnaire survey and in-depth interview with 30 firms of household appliance cluster of Shunde,this paper summarizes three types of informal ties in industrial cluster： informal ties based on spin-offs,informal ties based on talent mobility,informal ties based on trust by long-time cooperation.Furthermore,we find that the informal ties are actually a kind of social networks based on trust and reciprocity,and a convenient way for local firms to exchange technical information and knowledge or get technological help from each other.In addition,the impact of different types of informal ties on technological innovation of firms in the household appliance cluster of Shunde is different.The impact of informal ties based on spin-offs and informal ties based on talent mobility on technological innovation of firms are mainly reflected by technological information and knowledge transfer,but there is still a difference between them.The impact of informal ties based on trust by long-time cooperation on technological innovation of firms is to urge the firms in cooperation to form a common understanding and awareness of technological innovation,which could greatly increase the successful opportunities of technological innovation and cooperation.