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The Analysis Of The Competitive Advantage Of The Industrial Cluster In Japan And Italy

Posted on:2005-12-17Degree:MasterType:Thesis
Country:ChinaCandidate:H LiuFull Text:PDF
GTID:2156360122499224Subject:World economy
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Globalization does not decrease the very importance of location, on the contrary, location plays a key role in the world economy. Industrial cluster, which has been proved to be an effective organization form to enhance regional and national competitiveness, has become one of the main topics researched by the economists from all over the world. The patterns of Japan's industrial cluster and Italy's are typical. Both of the two countries have achieved mature experience of promoting industrial cluster. By analyzing the competitive advantage of the industrial cluster in the two countries, we can get useful reference to the renovation of the old industrial base of Northeast China.Part One —— The connotation and essence of industrial cluster and the conditions that should be met when a cluster forms . According to Professor Porter's definition, clusters are geographic concentrations of interconnected companies, specialized suppliers, service providers, and associated institutions in a particular field that are present in a nation or region. There are five major contributions to the theoretic explanation of clusters, including the theory of external economy, the theory of agglomeration economy, the theory of increasing returns to scale, the theory of transaction cost and the theory of competitive advantage. Marshall explained the phenomena of geographic concentration on the basis of external economy. He thought it was the external economy that led to the formation of clusters. Weber analyzed cluster phenomena by using the industrial location theory. He defined basic and advanced development process for industrial agglomeration. There were four factors contributing to clusters: the development of technological equipments and labor organization, market factor, constant expenditure cost. Paul Krugman argued that there were localized increasing returns to scale when firms and labor force agglomerated to get higher returns for production factors, and that was the theoretic base of cluster formation. Yang xiao kai reckoned that the organization form of cluster properly solved the dilemma between specialized economies and transaction cost. The form made an efficient transaction level, market structure and institutional arrangement possible. Michael Porter explained the formation mechanism and the value of cluster in the view of the competitive advantage created by organization reform, value chains, economy efficiency and flexibility.There are special conditions to meet when forming a cluster. The necessary conditions are: the producing course is divisible, which makes specialization possible; the final productions and the relevant supporting service are transportable; there is resources advantage. The sufficient conditions are: the existence of long value chains; the existence of core competence; the importance of innovation; the fluctuation of market, which requires enterprises to adjust their action quickly; the desire of enterprises to cooperate with each other. Part Two —— The analysis of the competitive advantage of the industrial clusters in Japan and Italy. The industrial cluster creates considerable competitive advantage, because the industrial cluster, as an effective organization form, can benefit from both scale economy and flexibility, which leads to the increasing of productivity and resources-deploying efficiency. Also, the enterprises based in the industrial cluster have cost advantage, and can achieve the scale-economy advantage in the long run. At last, the geographic proximity makes exposure to and interpretation of information possible, and that offers good environment for sustainable innovation process of enterprises in the industrial cluster.Each country has its own way to develop the industrial cluster. Japan's industrial cluster is government-dominant, and Italy's industrial cluster is market-dominant. Porter's diamond framework includes factor conditions, demand conditions, related and supporting industries, firm strategy, structure and rivalry, government and ch...
Keywords/Search Tags:Competitive
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