Research On The Formation Mechanism Of Local Characteristic Industrial Clusters

Since the21st century, with the development of the economic globalization, theregionalization of the world economy is becoming more and more evident which results in thedeepening of interregional competition. Accordingly, the nurturing of competitive advantagesbecomes a tough project for the development of regional economy. As a new and characteristicregional industrial organizational form, industrial cluster has become one of the mainstreams ofthe world economy. And it plays increasingly importance in promoting regional economy. Inrecent years, the Chinese government and Shandong province have successively launchedstrategic planning to promote the development of industrial clusters regarding them as significantways to boost regional economy and competitive advantages.This thesis first reviews the researches on industrial clusters by scholars from home andabroad. Findings show that the researches by now mainly focus on the formation and developingmechanism and the lifecycle. Further study needs to be done both theoretically and empirically.In addition, this thesis discusses the concept and features of industrial clusters. As far as thewriter is concerned, the industrial clusters are adjacent in location, specialized, social rooting andnetworked. These attributes enable industrial clusters with more developing advantages inregional economy. Since the formation and development of the industrial cluster theory resultfrom the cross development of related disciplines, after studying the researches on industrialclusters in different disciplines, we find that the theories can be generalized as the classicallocation theory, the innovation system theory, the new industrial district theory and so on.According to the announcement of Shandong government in2009, Changle jewelryindustrial cluster is one of the “the first batch of clusters of small and medium-sized enterprises”.Based on the case of Changle, this thesis discusses study the formation mechanism andcompetitive advantages of local industrial clusters. The writer believes that the Changle jewelryindustrial cluster is a complex combination consisting of gem mining plants, jewelry processingand marketing corporation, auxiliary enterprises, research and educational institutions, serviceagencies, government organizations, and relevant organizations etc. With the help of GEM model,and based on the analysis of competitive advantages of Changle jewelry industrial cluster, thestudy finds out that Changle has obvious competitive advantages of cluster. By the analysis ofthe formation mechanism of Changle jewelry industrial cluster, several factors, such as resourcescondition, market environment, the pursuit of cluster economy, and government's efforts etc.contribute greatly to the formation of the industrial cluster. Finally, the thesis analyzes anddiscusses the shortcomings and problems in the development of Changle jewelry industrialcluster, and proposes some countermeasures and advices to promote the development of jewelrycluster in Changle.