International trade fairs as amplifiers of permanent and temporary proximities in clusters

Abstract

Conceptualizing proximity as a mainly geographically and more or less permanently anchored phenomenon has been shown to be insufficient in clusters; the proximity between firms also has a temporary and relational character when coupled with globalization. This paper aims to contribute to this debate, exploring the role of international trade fairs (ITFs) for amplifying permanent and temporary proximities in clusters. Combining permanent and temporary proximities, a framework is integrated to enquire how non-local foreign relations encountered at ITFs are interconnected in a cluster network. The cluster network depicts the firms that are related for business and innovation purposes at three kinds of proximity. The first kind, the intra-cluster proximity, concerns the overall local networking. The second kind, the extra-cluster proximity, comprises trans-national friendship relations, trans-national market relations, and trans-national partnerships instigated at ITFs. The third kind, the bridging proximity, includes the cases in which firms engaged at ITFs interact with firms not participating at ITFs. This paper relies on social network analysis techniques in order to examine the proximity kinds in a Swedish cluster. The findings reveal that ITFs amplify the possibilities for interconnecting local relations and transnational relations. Participation at ITFs can potentially help firms to overcome the geographical limits of clusters.