Industry Cluster Research Articles

The Impact of Air Cargo on Regional Economic Development: Evidence from Chinese Cities

This study explored the impact of the air cargo industry on the regional economy by regressing panel data for 91 prefecture-level cities in China from 2006 to 2019. By using the total employment and the employment of the 19 sub-industries as indicators of regional economic development, results show that only the growth of employment in the manufacturing sector is significantly and positively associated with the growth of air cargo volume. This study then explores the heterogeneity of the impact of air cargo on manufacturing employment in different types of cities by using a dummy variable interaction term and finds that in terms of the elasticity of growth of air cargo on manufacturing employment, southwest, and northwest regions are significantly higher than other regions, inland cities are significantly higher than coastal port cities, and major gateway cities are significantly lower than non-major gateway cities. Our research shows that air cargo development can lead to manufacturing industry clustering, while air cargo infrastructure development is more important for the economic development of inland regions and secondary gateway cities.

Everywhere the same? Competitiveness of two regional vegetable production clusters in Southern Germany

German vegetable production is characterized by its pronounced variety of cultivated vegetable crops. There are also large differences among distinct production regions in terms of climate conditions, farm structures and marketing infrastructure. Two of the most important vegetable production regions in Southern Germany are the so-called ‘Knoblauchsland’ (Garlic Country) in Middle Franconia and the open-field production region in Lower Bavaria. Although these two vegetable production regions are geographically not far apart, they show distinct differences in size of the region, their historical development, and different scope of production. This paper analyzes the competitiveness of the two vegetable production regions following Porter’s definition of industry clusters and his Diamond model. Applying this approach, competitiveness is specified by four bundles of determinants, namely factor conditions, local demand conditions, available supporting industries, and type of rivalry and strategies. The cluster concept emphasizes the importance of the interplay of the different determinant bundles and, in addition to the existing networks and competitiveness, it also helps identify possible options for improvements of the framework conditions. Thus, practical implications have been derived on how cluster stakeholders can mitigate weaknesses such as unfavorable conditions, and further combine their strengths to increase competitiveness in the long term.

Evolutionary Game Analysis on Impacts of Organization Distance on Open Innovation Mode Selection of High-Tech Industrial Clusters

Based on the evolutionary game theory, this study aimed to explore the decision-making behavior of the enterprise when it adopted the open innovation model from the perspective of organizational distance. The evolutionary game theory is an important method to study the enterprise’ decision-making under bounded rationality. It applies to describe the trend of decision-making based on the enterprises’ open innovation choices in industrial clusters. This paper employs open innovation and institutional theory, utilizes industrial clusters as the research object, and measures the geographical proximity of enterprises in high-tech industrial clusters employing organizational distance. Within the analytical framework of the duopoly model, the impact of organizational distance and patent licensing fees on the innovative performance of a high-tech industrial cluster is studied. The findings indicate that the export-oriented open innovation model is more appropriate for the innovation of high-tech industry clusters. There is a significant relationship between organizational distance and the R&D spillovers of businesses. Increased patent fees can encourage industry clusters to adopt an open innovation model with an outward orientation if they are located in close proximity to each other. Further research analyzed the effect of organizational distance on the selection of an open innovation mode employing an evolutionary game model and indicated that geographical proximity would encourage enterprises to adopt open innovation export strategies. The conclusion of this study has both theoretical and practical ramifications for the independent innovation of high-tech industry clusters.

Using waste to supply steam for industry transition: Selection of target industries through economic evaluation and statistical analysis

AbstractGlobal warming mitigation requires worldwide action in a wide range of fields, including waste treatment and management. In Japan, demands to transform waste into energy as a greenhouse gas emissions reduction strategy are increasing. The use of steam generated from waste treatment plants as a source of energy in industries is a promising energy recovery method. In recent years, the feasibility and economic potential of conversion of waste into energy have been evaluated; however, economic efficiency is not always achieved. Therefore, it is necessary to classify steam supply targets based on profitability. Herein, we selected appropriate industries from different types and scales of industries for steam supply based on analyses carried out in Aichi Prefecture. Therefore, industries were classified based on their production shipment value. We also calculated the maximum profit potential from steam supply from waste treatment plants and the steam demand potential of each mesh. We applied data envelopment analysis (DEA) to evaluate energy efficiency and regression analysis to evaluate the potential effects on growth. The appropriate industry was estimated through decision tree analysis based on DEA scores for the mixed industries cluster. We extracted four appropriate industries: pulp, textiles, ceramics, and steel. For each industry, we calculated the number of firms required in the mesh for economic benefit. We also selected industries that could be used to explore the potential of adopting the developed methodology for other regions and industries and for identification of waste treatment plants that could participate in steam supply.

Construction enterprises’ adoption of green development behaviors: an agent-based modeling approach

Many previous studies have used performance evaluation to explore the impact of environmental regulation on the green development of enterprises. However, there are few studies on the process by which enterprises adopt green development behavior. Here, we aim to simulate the whole process by which Chinese construction enterprises adopt green development. We also consider impact of environmental regulation and industry clusters in this process. Using agent-based modeling, we construct a computational experimental simulation model for the adoption of green development behavior by construction enterprises. The model considers the organizational behavior characteristics of construction enterprises and the evolutionary characteristics of the renewable construction materials market. Our results show that in terms of renewable building materials, construction enterprises that actively adopt green development behavior are more sustainable than those that do not. Moreover, with the implementation of sustainable environmental regulations, more enterprises are passively adopting green development behaviors. However, unsustainable environmental regulations do not have a positive effect. The formation of industrial clusters is also conducive to promoting companies’ adoption of green development behaviors. Therefore, construction enterprises should take the initiative to adopt green development behavior and migrate to industrial agglomerations. This practice is not only beneficial to the sustainable operation of the enterprise and the expansion of the enterprise scale, it will also have an optimization effect on the external environment. Here, we take construction enterprises as the breakthrough point and expand research on enterprise green development. We also provide a theoretical basis and insights for enterprises with environmental responsibility to engage in green development behavior.

Research on the Development of New Energy Automobile Industry Cluster in Anhui Province from SWOT Perspective

The development of new energy vehicle industry cluster has become an inevitable trend of the development of China's new energy vehicle industry. Anhui province should seize the historical opportunity of the great development of new energy vehicle industry and promote the development of Anhui new energy vehicle industry cluster.On the basis of the development status of new energy automobile industry in Anhui province, through SWOT analysis, the development of new energy automobile industry cluster, the research found that in Anhui province, policy, market and talent advantages, there are certain opportunities in new energy vehicle demand and oil prices, but in technology, infrastructure and regulatory disadvantages, and competition threats from external new energy automobile enterprises.Then, the SO strategy analysis, WO strategy analysis, W O strategy analysis and WT strategy analysis were analyzed with the SWOT matrix.In addition, suggestions are put forward on how to overcome the competitive threat from internationally famous new energy vehicle enterprises and reduce the disadvantages in technology, infrastructure and supervision in the development of Anhui New energy vehicle industry cluster, in order to provide reference and thinking for the development of Anhui new energy vehicle industry cluster.

The Innovation and Development Path of Cultural and Creative Industries in Anhui Province, China: Nvivo12-Based Policy Text Analysis.

The policy planning of cultural and creative industries is the leading factor affecting the development of cultural and creative industries and is also an important factor in driving China's economic transformation. How to combine the policy with the actual industrial development and how to scientifically assess the construction effect of cultural and creative industries and build the corresponding planning system are the key points of the current development of cultural and creative industries in Anhui Province, China. The study first analyzes the regional cultural characteristics and development status of Anhui Province, then uses Nvivo12 qualitative software to conduct grounded research and qualitative text analysis on 20 Chinese cultural and creative industry development policy texts, and summarizes three core elements that promote the development of China's cultural and creative industry: “development task,” “development goal,” and “development guarantee.” Then, according to the three core elements of the text, we propose policy recommendations for the innovation and development of Anhui's cultural and creative industries: focus on “cultural heritage and sustainable development” policy formulation, explore Anhui's regional characteristics and culture; strengthen the development of urban-rural cultural integration and mechanism innovation; optimize and adjust the structure and supply of cultural industries; top-level design to clarify the strategic direction of culture, and coordinate the research tasks to empower industrial innovation. Relying on new media means, it integrates three major development strategies to build a new mechanism for internationalized communication of cultural and creative industries in Anhui Province, develop regional advantageous industries, form advantageous cultural industry clusters, effectively spread local culture, and promote sustainable development of local economy.

Integrated modelling approach for an eco-industrial park site selection

Inconsistencies of the single multi-criteria decision making (SMCD) methods in criteria weight assessment make them unreliable and have led to the wrong siting of industrial parks, which are often abandoned as brownfields that emit GHG. Eco-industrial parks (EIPs) are replacing brownfields but require robust decision-making tools to weigh and rank suitable locations for industry clusters' synergies. Integrated multi-criteria decision making (IMCDM) to address the weaknesses and strengthen the advantages of SMCDM methods, and a model to overlay criteria weights and spatial data easily and accurately were developed. The spatial criteria data for 2009 and 2019 from Tanjung Langsat Industrial Area were collected and prepared by GIS to test the SMCDM and IMCMD consistency weighting and the model resilience. The SMCDM (AHP, ANP and F-AHP) and the IMCDM weights with the 2009 criteria data identified the entire water bodies around the brownfield as suitable sites, making them inconsistent. The 2019 data with the SMCDM weights identified tiny sites as best, also making them inconsistent. The integrated hierarchy network fuzzy analytic process (HN-FAP) and the hierarchy network analytic process (HNAP) with the 2019 criteria data identified part of the water bodies as suitable making it inconsistent. The hierarchy fuzzy analytic process (H-FAP) and the network fuzzy hierarchy analytic process (NFh-AP) identified larger suitable sites without overlaps making them consistent algorithms. The H-FAP and NFh-AP procedures eliminate the weaknesses and consolidate the strengths, giving optimally consistent criteria weights. The two algorithms' consistency and the model efficiency can use different criteria weights and spatial data inputs from elsewhere for 4IR-driven EIP modelling to help brownfield-EIP stakeholders. Future research would address the reverse ranking of MCDM methods when alternatives are added or removed.

Transformation and Upgrading Development Strategy of Ceramic Industry Cluster in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Based on the Concept of Green Development

On February 18, 2019, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued the ‘Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Development Plan’ where the Greater Bay Area will undergo green and low-carbon development with four major innovations, and there is the core competitiveness of Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao to build a world-class bay area. In the past ten years, the ceramic industry, which belongs to the manufacturing industry, has formed an industrial cluster advantage in the Greater Bay Area. However, the continuous economic downturn in the international market, coupled with anti-dumping and other trade barriers, has impeded the export of ceramic industry products, and the domestic overcapacity and environmental. Additionally, the pressure of pollution has forced the government to issue various industrial policies and environmental protection policies to guide the upgrading and the transfer of the ceramic industry. The arising internal and external problems are restricting the improvement of the green innovation performance of the ceramic industry cluster in the Greater Bay Area under high-quality development. This paper analyzes the key factors which are restricting the improvement of green innovation performance of ceramic industry clusters in the Greater Bay Area. Further, a specific improvement path and policies for the high-quality development of the ceramic industry in the Greater Bay Area were proposed in this paper.

High-Quality Development of Ceramic Industry Clusters in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Based on Green Innovation

In the past ten years, the ceramic industry which, belongs to the manufacturing industry, has formed an industrial cluster advantage in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in China. However, the continuous economic downturn in the international market, coupled with anti-dumping and other trade barriers, and the domestic overcapacity and environmental pollution pressure has impeded the export of ceramic industry products. The internal and external problems are restricting the improvement of green innovation performance of the ceramic industry cluster in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area under the high-quality development. This project divides green innovation into several stages and levels for analysis, and establishes an evaluation index system in three dimensions: green economic benefits, technological innovation, and green development. Data on the factors affecting the high-quality development of the ceramic industry in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area were extracted from databases such as CSMAR, WIND, RESSET, and CCER, followed by empirical tests. Finally, the specific improvement path for the high-quality development of the ceramic industry in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is obtained, and lastly the policy recommendations is proposed in the paper.

How “cultural reshaping” affects rural tourism development in China - a case from zhejiang beautiful countryside demonstration area

A number of studies have been carried out on the importance and connotation of tourism culture. However, from the literature study of tourism culture, it is found that there is still a gap between the remolding of tourism culture and the development of tourism enterprises in the digital era. This study aims to identify the enterprise clustering effect and employment benefit of rural tourism culture reshaping. By empirical research, this study establishes a new conceptual research framework for rural tourism sustainability to cover the gap between the cultural reshaping and enterprise development for rural tourism in Zhejiang. We began with investigation to villagers on their acceptance of reshaped tourism culture. Through interviews with entrepreneurs, this study investigates the relationship between tourism cultural reshaping and tourism enterprise image. An enterprise network of regional tourism cultural IP image has been established to describe the density among the whole tourism cultural industry. The location entropy index is adopted to show the employment in tourism enterprises. This index reflects residents’ acceptance of the reshaped cultural image as a key influencing factor of enterprises’ sustainable development. Furthermore, it is found that tourism cultural reshaping is a significant base for rural tourism industry clustering. The research results suggest that tourism corporation can contribute to the local tourism economy by reshaping culture.

Post-COVID-19 Revitalisation and Prospects for Climate Neutral Energy Security Technologies

Dealing with the effects of COVID-19 is on the energy security agenda. Consolidation of efforts at the regional, national and international levels to exchange experience in the implementation of successful practices and the formation of institutional support of the sustainable energy development contributes to the post-COVID-19 revitalisation. With this in mind, the article is devoted to studying the peculiarities and experience of the post-COVID-19 revitalisation of the energy sector in different countries and determining the development prospects of climate-neutral technologies in the energy security sphere. A change in the behaviour of energy consumers by the secondary energy source in the context of increased quarantine restrictions has been established. In particular, a downward trend in the volume of energy consumption from traditional sources (oil, coal, etc.) has been traced. At the same time, the demand for energy consumption from renewable sources (solar energy, wind energy, etc.) has grown, which made it possible to diagnose the reduction in CO2 emissions. Based on the analysis of measures to reduce the negative impact of the COVID-19 on energy security in different countries, the integration of the foundations of climate neutrality through the development of new critical technologies in the field of renewable energy sources has been established. As a result of a survey of green energy stakeholders using PEST analysis, it was proved that the complexity of integrating the principles of climate neutrality into the energy sector is that the result is not an economic effect but primarily an environmental effect (energy decarbonization). As a result, a methodology for determining the sustainability indicators for developing climate-neutral technologies in energy security using fuzzy set methods is proposed. The prospect of developing climate-neutral technologies in energy security lies in the transition to cross-sectoral interaction based on a closed cycle of energy consumption from renewable sources and the use of Industry 4.0 technologies. The proposed methodology will be a tool for further research on the developing organizational and innovative support and justifying the economic feasibility of introducing climate-neutral technologies based on the clustering of industries and a circular economy in the energy security sphere.

Upgrading and Optimization of Ski Tourism Resort Using Data Mining and Data Fusion

After years of development, the ski industry has formed a prototype of a ski tourism industry cluster integrating skiing, skiing entertainment, skiing technology, and skiing culture. With the rapid development of global information, data mining and data fusion have attracted extensive attention as high-tech technologies for extensive data processing and useful information retrieval. The principles of these two data processing technologies are different, but they are functionally compatible with each other. This paper will use the methods of data mining and data fusion to research and analyze the upgrading and optimization of ski tourism destinations; eliminate unnecessary information; reduce rules; establish a fusion system according to the basic rules of rough sets; use industrial cluster theory, industrial structure and optimization theory, industrial economy, and sports tourism management theory to study the current situation and existing problems of ski tourism; and analyze the mechanism and theory of upgrading and optimization of ski tourism industry structure based on industrial clusters. The results show that the per capita ecological footprint of the ski resort has decreased by 0.06178 hm2 in the past five years, and the total ecological footprint of the whole region in 2020 is 535089.3 hm2. Compared with 2016, it increased by 0.97%, exceeding the ecological deficit carrying supply by 5 times. Compared with traditional algorithms, the performance of data mining and data fusion algorithms is improved by 48%. It is concluded that the development strategies of the ski tourism industry include the innovation of ice and snow sports products, the innovation of technology development paths, the optimization of the management mode and marketing mode of the ski tourism industry, and the innovation of industrial systems and systems.

Creative Hubs in Hanoi, Vietnam

Creative Hubs in Hanoi, Vietnam

Contagion effects of UK small business failures: A spatial hierarchical autoregressive model for binary data

This article focuses on modelling the contagion effects - both between and within groups - on small business failures in London. Small business clusters can be defined based on different companies’ characteristics, for example, economic sector or geographical location. These aspects are usually included as fixed effects to predict the defaults of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). However, this approach however ignores the interactions between the company groups and only captures the heterogeneity across the clusters. To include both contagion effects between and within groups, a Bayesian spatial hierarchical model for binary data is proposed and applied to a dataset of SMEs located in London in 2016. The empirical analysis shows that the contagion component at the lower level, based on the geographical location, is not significant if the industry clustering is ignored. However, it becomes significant if the industry group effect is included, and also the upper-level interdependence also becomes significant. Finally, the suggested model improves the predictive accuracy and the expected shortfall estimate compared to standard scoring models.

The impact of artificial intelligence industry agglomeration on economic complexity

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a fundamental driver of technological and economic growth. However, few studies have focused on the impact of AI industry agglomeration on economic complexity. This study uses a unique dataset of 2,503,795 AI enterprises in China collected through web crawlers to measure AI industrial agglomeration and examine the relationship between AI industry agglomeration and economic complexity in 194 Chinese cities based on Marshall industry agglomeration theory. The study’s results show that AI industry clustering increases economic complexity. The mechanism analysis indicates that people and knowledge are the channels through which it boosts economic complexity. Unexpectedly, AI industry agglomeration does not improve the economic complexity index (ECI) through the goods path. This study proposes three possible explanations for this result. First, AI industrial clustering may lead to excessive rivalry in China’s intermediate product market. Hence, sharing intermediate inputs has no increasing returns effect. Second, the city's high-end talent is not fairly distributed due to China's uneven development. Finally, policies drive the formation of China’s AI industrial agglomeration, which does not develop naturally. Consequently, China should implement a talent- and knowledge-driven AI agglomeration. To avoid overcrowding, policies must match regional development.

Pathway of Building SMEs Performance in Cluster through Innovation Capability

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of business strategies and social capital on the performance of small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) that operate in small industry clusters. An emphasis is placed on examining the function of innovation capability in mediating this interaction. Data was acquired by sending questionnaires to various clusters in East Java, Indonesia, utilizing multi-stage sampling. The study then found 98 SME owners who had completed all of the surveys. The Partial Least Square approach was then utilized to evaluate the hypotheses using SmartPLS. The findings show that business strategies have no direct impact on performance. The impact of business strategy on performance appears to be mediated by innovation capabilities. On the other hand, social capital, as measured by bridging and linking social capital, has a direct impact on firm performance. As a result, this study suggests that SMEs improve their performance through increasing cluster social capital and increasing innovation capability. We recommend further research to replicate this study on large industry clusters. It is expected that the interplay between business strategies and social capital to performance will explain different result for the development of industry clusters.

Analysis of the Current Situation and Countermeasures for the Development of Shandong Rongcheng Kelp Industry Cluster

Rongcheng is a natural kelp production base due to its unique geographical environment and climatic advantages. Since the 1930s, the Rongcheng kelp industry has played an important role in the development of the Chinese kelp industry. Rongcheng's kelp output ranked first in China for more than ten years, from 2010 to 2021. Its kelp production accounts for nearly half of total Chinese kelp production. This paper analyzes the current development of the Rongcheng kelp industry cluster from six perspectives: natural environment and resources of kelp farming, supporting infrastructure of kelp farming and processing enterprises, main bodies in Rongcheng kelp industry cluster, relevant assistance of Rongcheng municipal government to kelp industry, development of relevant supporting industries in kelp industry. Then it concludes that there are four problems in the current development stage of Rongcheng kelp industry cluster and the development of Rongcheng kelp industry cluster's domestic and foreign markets. It then concludes that there are four issues in the current development stage of the Rongcheng kelp industry cluster. Based on the analysis of the problems and countermeasures, it is concluded that the current development stage of the Rongcheng kelp industry cluster has four problems: low cluster efficiency, an imperfect market system, a lack of technological innovation, and a weak influence of regional brands. It assists the Rongcheng kelp industry cluster in achieving high-quality development based on an analysis of the problems and countermeasures.

The Role of Entrepreneurial Marketing in the Indonesian Agro-Based Industry Cluster to Face the ASEAN Economic Community

The agro-industry plays an important role in the Indonesian economy. However, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in this industry face various challenges to be competitive, one of which is the implementation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) agreement. The study aims to develop a model for the agro-industry Micro-Small Medium Enterprises to face the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) using entrepreneurial marketing approaches. This research was conducted at three centers of agro-based industry clusters in Indonesia. The respondents were business actors representing the leading Micro-Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the fruit-processing industry cluster, fish processing industry cluster and milk processing industry cluster. Primary data collection was conducted through structured interviews using close ended questionnaires. This study used Structural Equation Modelling analysis with a Partial Least Squares (PLS) approach to develop a model of enhancement for the agro-industry clusters in dealing with AEC. The findings suggest that the entrepreneurial marketing has significant impact in increasing business development and business competitiveness. The MSMEs possessing great competitiveness would be more ready to penetrate their business into other ASEAN markets. In addition, supportive government policies that encourage and improve innovativeness can significantly increase the entrepreneurial marketing ability.

Local Employment Impacts of Connectivity to Regional Economies: The Role of Industry Clusters in Bridging the Urban-Rural Divide

This article proposes a new economic development framework – regional economic connectivity – to address the deep and growing urban-rural divide. Regional economic connectivity calls attention to the benefits to local communities of fostering connectivity to industry clusters and economic specializations that are already present in their broader regions. This analysis examines the relationship between growth and connectivity across all U.S. counties and their regions from 2010 to 2016 and finds that local cluster employment grows faster when those jobs are part of regional clusters. The magnitude of the relationship between growth and connectivity varies across the urban-rural hierarchy, with particularly strong results for micropolitan communities. A targeted analysis of Virginia is presented to illustrate these trends and implications for practice.