The Impact Of Inter-cluster Cooperation On Firms' Location Choices And Productivities

Cluster network,describing the cooperation between clusters,is an emerging topic in the field of industrial cluster research.Although economic geographers put forward the theoretical hypothesis of cluster networks from the perspective of network,empirical researches still focus on the characterization of cluster networks,the description of geographical patterns,and the influence factor of cooperation among clusters.Recently,the network effect caused by the cluster network has become a research hotspot.However,due to the difficulty of obtaining relational data,related researches mainly focus on the innovation cooperation between clusters and its impact on innovation performance.Based on the intra-industry division,foreign literature divides the cluster network into two sub-networks.Horizontal and vertical division of labor distinguishes between innovation cooperation networks and buyer-supplier networks.Therefore,this paper believes that it's insufficient to consider innovation cooperation alone but ignore the one existed in the production link while making cluster cooperation research.As the basis of industrial clusters theory,aggregate economics theory has expanded from agglomeration externalities confined to a specific geographic space to network externalities oriented across geographic boundaries.Although many studies have focused on the impact of agglomeration effects on corporate site selection and enterprises total factor productivity,the conclusions of the researches vary widely.The reasons for the above differences may include the failure to adopt an external network view.In the context of the integration of local clusters into the cluster network,it is not sufficient to focus only on the local agglomeration economy in analyzing the factors affecting corporate site selection and enterprises total factor productivity.While enterprises benefit from the agglomeration effect and cooperation within the cluster,they are also affected by cooperation outside the cluster.This paper attempts to combine recent research on cluster networks and network externalities in the field of agglomeration economies and industrial clusters,and conducts an empirical analysis on the automobile manufacturing industry in China.Then explore the spatial-temporal evolution characteristics of innovation cooperation networks and buyer-supplier networks between clusters and their impact on different life cycles of enterprises.This paper mainly addresses the following issues: What are the differences in spatio-temporal dynamics of the innovation cooperation network and the buyer-supplier network? Do the two types of inter-cluster cooperation networks have an impact on site selection and productivity? How is this network effect different from the agglomeration effect and cooperation effect within the industrial cluster?To this end,this paper uses the "Patent Information Service Platform" to extract joint patent application data between enterprises.And through the manual entry method,this paper collects paper-made data like the most influential and authoritative reference books of the Chinese automotive industry,"China Auto Parts Suppliers Manual" and “China Automotive Industry Enterprises& Administrative Organizations” to get rare data on buyer-supplier link between enterprises.Furthermore,this paper summarizes the cooperative relationships and concludes the characteristics of the cooperative network between clusters.On this foundation,the influence of the network effects caused by the above-mentioned cluster network on the location of new enterprises in the establishment stage and the productivity of the enterprises in the growth stage are explored.The main findings are as follows:First,the cluster network of China's automobile manufacturing industry is depicted by innovation cooperation and buyer-supplier linkage among enterprises.On the overall characteristics of the network,two sub-networks gradually expanded and the network density continued to increase.Buyer-supplier among local clusters is more intensive than innovation cooperation.However,innovation cooperation network become more localized in community division,which form a number of closely connected communities composed of local clusters;the community division of buyer-supplier network presents a weakening trend.Second,inter-cluster innovation cooperation has a significant negative impact on the location of enterprises.Each additional 35 patent relations between the local cluster and other clusters will hinder the establishment of a local enterprise.The effect of buyer-supplier between clusters is not significant.The above effects are more significant in the sample of high-efficiency and foreign-funded enterprises.Because it is difficult to enter the existed innovation network in the short term,high-efficiency automotive manufacturing companies and foreign-funded enterprises will actively avoid local clusters that are strongly embedded in the innovation network between clusters in the process of enterprise location to promote rapid business growth.Third,the buyer-supplier network among clusters is not universal in improving the production efficiency of enterprises.Each time the frequency of buyer-supplier cooperation increases,the total factor productivity of the enterprise participating in the cluster network increases by 0.00422.For enterprises that have not been involved,the above effects are not robust.Using the number of patent applications,invention patent applications,and buyer-supplier relationships as mediation variables to analyze the intermediary effect.The paper found that the impact of buyer-supplier network among clusters on productivity is mainly achieved through "learning mechanisms" and "matching mechanisms"Fourth,comparing the network effects,agglomeration effects,and intra-cluster cooperation effects,the paper found that after joining network effects caused by intercluster cooperation,the agglomeration effect is not robust and the intra-cluster cooperation effect is not significant.Inter-cluster cooperation may be an external influence that is ignored in existed researches.The findings of this article have the following policy implications.First,local industrial policies need to be formulated for external networks.It will reasonably balance agglomeration effects and network effects.To promote local clusters to expand network resources,improve network status,and capture network value in the cluster network.Second,in the construction of the Science and Technology Innovation Center,it is necessary to promptly respond to the increase in the technical barriers to entry for enterprises caused by extensive external innovation cooperation,thereby restricting entrepreneurship.Third,technical cooperation between domestic and foreign-funded enterprises wound be encouraged.It will promote integration of foreign-funded enterprises into the inter-cluster innovation networks.Fourth,the establishment of technology cooperation and supply chain cooperation sharing platforms need to be encouraged.It will promote local clusters to utilize external cooperation connections and obtain key knowledges that are not available locally.