| With the economic globalization and informatization,the extensive application of information and communication technology has exacerbated the process of temporal and spatial compression,and has formed new forms of economic and social development and spatial forms.A new form of development based on online platforms has emerged in rural villages to capitalize from e-commerce development in China.These villages utilizing Alibaba Group's Taobao e-commerce platform to sustain rural development and have become known as Taobao villages.This development model has greatly promoted the economic development in rural areas and attracted the attention of domestic and overseas scholars.This new socio-economic network not only reconstructs the economic structure,but also constructs new urban-rural relations.The flourishing of Taobao Village reflects the increase in the competitiveness of traditional rural area and the formation of a“global village" new economy.Once e-commerce is closely linked with less developed rural areas,it will improve competitiveness of rural areas to a certain extent,and it also gives new meaning to rural areas.Commodities from these villages,which were formerly characterized by closed information and lack of resources,have flowed throughout the country and even around the world,creating a new flow of goods and prompting some rural areas to re-embed a powerful modern,global social and economic network.The World Bank has proposed that Taobao Village is an effective means for poverty reduction and sharing prosperity in developing countries.The development model of China's rural e-commerce cluster requires in-depth research to provide experience for the developing countries.Based on the above research background,this study attempts to answer the question of how rural e-commerce cluster develops.We try to devide it into three aspects:space,technology and organization.(1)What are the spatial characteristics and evolution of rural e-commerce clusters?(2)What is the teconology development trajectories of the rural e-commerce cluster?(3)What is the industrial organization structure of rural e-commerce clusters?In view of the above research issues,this study is divided into eight chapters for specific theoretical and empirical research.We start with and introduction in the first chapter.It mainly discusses the research background of the paper and the theoretical and practical significance of rural e-commerce cluster research,and put forward the main issues of the study.To address these issues,the main framework of the study was constructed.Finally,the research area and research aspects were described in detail.The second chapter is literature review of rural e-commerce cluster research.We firstly introduce the process of e-commerce in the world and in China,as well as the impact of electronic commerce.Since the economic reform initiated in the late 1970s,China has experienced rapid growth and profound change.China's success in economic growth has been conceptualized as the China miracle,or the China model.Three well-known models-the Sunan model,Pearl River Delta model and the Wenzhou model have been coined to describe urbanization and regional development in China.As a new regional development model under the background of globalization and informationization,this chapter points out the uniqueness of rural e-commerce clusters through comparison.This chapter also reviews the research progress of rural e-commerce clusters represented by Taobao Village.It has a basic understanding of the current rural e-commerce cluster research and also points out a new research space.The third chapter is the theoretical basis and analysis framework.This chapter introduces globalization and informatization that have changed the pattern of regional development,and combed the basic theory of evolutionary economic geography,and its application in industrial clusters.It is still controversial whether rural areas are suitable for the development of industrial clusters,but the combination of rural areas and e-commerce seems to prove its feasibility.In the development of industrial clusters,institutional factors have played an important role.Therefore,this chapter proposes an analytical framework which is named "Technology-Organization-Territory".The fourth chapter is the local characteristics and development model of rural e-commerce cluster.This chapter briefly introduces the basic characteristics of the national rural e-commerce cluster and the development trend in Zhejiang Province.Based on the field survey and socio-economic data analysis of Taobao Village in Zhejiang Province,we summarized the main characteristics of rural e-commerce development.From the perspective of the industrial organization,we identified five development models of Taobao Village,namely,the product-oriented Xishan Model,Qiaoyun Model and Bainiu Model,and the market-oriented Beishan Model and Qingyan Liu Model.The fifth chapter is the spatial characteristics and evolution of rural e-commerce clusters.Using ArcGIS and R software,this chapter explores the spatial evolution and agglomeration characteristics of Taobao Village in Zhejiang Province from 2014 to 2016.It is found that Taobao Village tends to cluster on a small scale,and it follows path dependence to some extent.This chapter also analyzes the location determinants of rural e-commerce clusters from both individual and regional perspectives.Research from two perspectives draws similar conclusions.Traditional location factors still play an important role.The sixth chapter is the research on the evolution path of rural e-commerce clusters.This chapter explores the process of technology acquisition,technology diffusion,and the formation of local learning networks in the development of rural e-commerce clusters.There are four paths to achieve technological innovation,such as purchase,imitation innovation,partial innovation,and independent innovation.At this stage,rural e-commerce clusters are evolving from imitative innovation to partial innovation.A regression model was established to explore the main influencing factors of the technological upgrading of rural e-commerce clusters.We find that innovation consciousness and innovative talents are the most crucial influencing factors.The seventh chapter is the industrial organization of rural e-commerce clusters,focusing on the interaction among enterprises,associations and the government.We try to reveal the industrial organization co-evolutionary mechanisms of rural e-commerce clusters.Rural e-commerce clusters began in the self-organizing market.Under the joint promotion of enterprises,governments,and associations,rural e-commerce clusters are characterized by scale,standardization,enterprise,and economics zonation.The eighth chapter is the conclusion and research prospect.It mainly summarizes four conclusions which are consistent with the research questions,as well as the policy implications.Finally,it proposes the directions and prospects for further research in the future. |
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