Industrial Clusters And The Rejuvenation Of The Industries Of Northeast China

In the 21^st century, how to improve the national economic development has become the study subject of every nation under the tide of globalization. A country or a region's economic status is reflected mainly by the competitiveness of its industries. As an advanced industrial organization, industrial cluster can improve the competitiveness of industries of a country or a region. The theories of industrial cluster, which are developed on the basis of the traditional theories, is a new exploration on regional economic development as well as the focus of present economic research. Industrial culster has become the major economic phenomena in the world during the past twenty years. In order to accelerate the economic development of Northeast China, the central government has proposed that the revitalization of the old industrial base of Northeast China should be carried out through new ideas, new systems, new mechanisms and new methods. For a long time Northeast China has depended on great projects, preferential policies, and national capital input to solve the problems in the development of its regional economy. As a result, it has ignored the ultimate way out of its embarrassed situation, that is, the construction of its " endogenous " power which means the cultivation of the competitiveness of its industries. Industrial cluster is the source of this " endogenous " power. This desertation combines industrial cluster theories with the rejuvenation of the industries of Northeast china through analyzing industrial cluster theories, and offers some advices for the development of industrial clusters in Northeast China. The desertation can be divided into four parts: The first part analyzes the definitions and characters of industrial clusters, and introduces the rising and development of industrial cluster theories, and the present conditions of theoretical research. Clusters are the geographic concentrations of interconnected companies and associated institutions in a particular region. Those interconnected entities are helpful to the improvement of competitiveness. The characters of industrial clusters are as follows: first, the entities in clusters are interconnected and geographic concentrated. Second, the production systems in clusters are flexible and specialized. Third, competition and cooperation coexist among the entities in clusters. Fouth, the economic behaviou of entities in clusters is embedded in their social relations. The earliest theories that throw light on clusters are Marshall's external economy theory, Webber's agglomeration theory, Perroux'growth pole theory, and territorial production complex theory of some former Russian researchers. However, as the competitiveness of nations hadn't been paid enough attention by the academic circle, the study of industrial clusters has been on the edge of economic research. The achievements of Micheal Porter and Paul Krugman make the research of industrial clusters come back to the mainstream of economics, hence cause the upsurge of studies on clusters. Currently, the studies in foreign countries on clusters are being constantly deepened, different schools that study cluster, for example, "new industrial space", "innovative environment", and "innovative system"etc. are carrying on new theoretical exploration on clusters. The theoretical research on clusters in our country is mainly the introduction to and evaluation of the theories abroad. The second part discusses the formation mechanism of industrial clusters. According to the rising and development of clusters, the causation of industrial clusters can be summed up through four aspects. First, obtain the traditional agglomeration effects. Businesses can share the resources in clusters, benefit from economies of scale, and improve production effeciency through division of labor and specialization. Second, reduce transaction costs. A relatively stable transaction environment can be set up through the cluster of a large number of related enterprises. Therefore, the costs of getting information and signing contracts can be reduced. The financing costs of enterprises can also be reduced because the "regional brand effect"can attract capital investment outside the region. Besides, as enterprises in clusters usually play collaborate game, risk expenses can be reduced. Third, gain market advantage. The enterprises in clusters can quickly feedback the strategies and product performance of their counterparts, and modify their own products; enterprises in clusters can advertise their products through "regional brand effects"so as to reduce their marketing costs; enterprises in clusters have strong bargaining ability no matter they are sellers or buyers. Fourth, gain regional innovation advantage. Industrial clusters can keep the competitiveness of their industries for a long time, depending on the regional innovation system. Industrial clusters can be formed through several ways. First, some clusters are constructed by transforming or dividing big enterprises. Second, intermediaries, such as enterprises'association, play a major role in theconstruction of clusters. Third, the large-scale manufacturing enterprises wrap up their businesses to small and medium sized enterprises, thus making clusters. Fourth, some clusters are formed by the cooperation of colleges, universities, research institutes, and enterprises. Fifth, some clusters are created on the basis of family relations and common cultural background. Sixth, some clusters take shape by international investment of multi-national enterprises. The third part analyzes the current status and problems of the industries in Northeast China, and the causes of these problems. Then bring forward the new idea of revitalizing the industries in Northeast China by creating clusters. The embarrassed situation of Northeast China is mainly caused by the decay of the competitiveness of its industries that results in the stagnancy of its economic development, which was displayed by the decline of the GDP of Northeast China in proportion to that of the whole country, the decline of the output of industrial sector of Northeast China in proportion to that of the whole country, the decline of the output of major industrial products of Northeast China in proportion to that of the whole country. There are many problems that prevent the industries of Northeast China from rapid development. The major ones are as follows: the industrial structure is disbalanced; technology and technological equipment of industries are out of date; the degree of marketization is relatively low; enterprises are short of capital, and have financing problems; enterprises are concentrated but not interrelated, etc. The main cause of these problems is that Northeast China lacks an effective industrial organization to cultivate the endogenous power for the economic development. Industrial clusters are the origin of this endogenous strength. Industrial clusters are very important to the rejuvenation of Northeast China. First, industrial clusters are helpful to improve the innovation ability of the industries in Northeast China. Second, industrial clusters can adjust the unbalanced economic structure of Northeast China. Third, industrial clusters can join the scattered industrial chains to realize better division of labour and improve the effeciency of production. Northeast China owns the realistic foundation for implementing industrial clusters. The industrial foundation of Northeast China is comparatively strong, and it owns a mature heavy industry system and supplementary ability, which make the development of industrial clusters possible. The potential clusters are: clusters of automobile industries, clusters of iron and steel...