Developing a framework for network and cluster identification for use in economic development policy-making

Drawing on extensive academic research concerning clusters and networks, this paper seeks to create a framework capable of reviewing and monitoring different aspects of clusters and networks on an ongoing basis. The nine-element framework allows evaluation of the structures and processes for the eight basic cluster types identified from the literature. The use of this framework as a complimentary tool to the Multi-sectoral Qualitative Analysis (MSQA) methodology is then demonstrated using three examples (the construction, hardwood timber and higher education sectors). The data was gathered from three sets of key stakeholders (government, institutions and industry) provided from a recent study funded by the Welsh Assembly Government's Small Grants Research Programme. These cases illustrate the use of the framework in helping to generate the initial information necessary for subsequent cluster development policy (within overall regional economic development) by government to occur. The framework provides tools for reviewing and monitoring individual sectors. Information captured within the framework can also help in ameliorating problems in sectors likely to decline further. The need for further development research is also identified. Specifically at the level of the firm and network, there is a need to generate a more detailed framework of analysis of factors that contribute to successful processes of network management, learning and innovation, from which more detailed policy could be enacted in future.     

Identifying Linkages with a Cluster-based Methodology

Although many methods for studying linkages between economic sectors exist, most methods only analyse the linkages between a specific sector and all other sectors, or the effects of all sectors on the economy as a whole. Cluster analysis may be helpful to analyse which sectors are strongly connected to each other, when no specific sector is given in advance. The present article reviews how cluster analysis contributes to the analysis of intersectoral linkages. Furthermore, it describes several possible identification methods of these clusters. After selecting the best method, the article provides an index that can be used to compute the degree of similarity between clusters in different regions, countries, or time periods.     

A Fuzzy clustering approach to the key sectors of the Spanish economy

The search for key sectors in an economy has been and still is one of the more recurrent themes in input–output analysis. When using clustering techniques, sectors can only belong to a group, having a particular performance. But, actually, the same sector could be important from different perspectives at the same time, to a different degree. So, a fuzzy clustering approach is needed. In this work we propose a multidimensional approach to classify the productive sectors of the Spanish input–output table for 1995, based on three groups of variables: those related to their productive integration, others measuring their specific weight in the economy and finally some showing their economic dynamic. We also incorporate into the analysis the technological level, which being a categorical variable presents special methodological problems. All these questions are tackled applying a robust and fuzzy clustering analysis, which gives as a result a classification of sectors illustrating the role that each one plays in the Spanish economy.     

Multi-criteria analysis of economic complexity transition in emerging economies: The case of Paraguay

Like many emerging economies, the productive structure of the Paraguayan economy is not complex. It relies extensively on low value-added activities in the primary sector such as agriculture and cattle ranching. These activities have a lower return in terms of economic and social benefits than other potential productive activities and do not contribute to increasing capability accumulation. In this paper we present a tool to support the identification of strategic sectors and products which if taken advantage of, could leverage development through the accumulation of productive capabilities. Our guiding question is: Which productive sectors should be promoted to foster economic development in Paraguay through a transition towards a more complex economy? To answer this question, we use concepts from the Economic Complexity theory to identify new products and cluster them based on the Product Space methodology for the determination of potential products and combine it with the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) for multicriteria analysis considering multiple criteria. In doing so, our proposed methodology contributes to both the Economic Complexity and the AHP literature. Through this combination, we tackle the multiplicity of juxtaposed criteria, which should be considered at the prioritization stage in the crafting of economic restructuring measures according to the country's capabilities. Our evaluation showed that the combination of the approaches is useful, and for Paraguay's case, it helped identify sectors, which, if promoted by policymakers, could help boost economic development through complexity and capability accumulation.     

基于行业关联网络的行业集群划分与应用

基于改进的时间序列相似性度量构建行业关联网络,运用最小生成树算法简化网络结构。通过对中国股票市场进行实证研究,考察网络结构得到行业群的划分,并通过统计得到行业群在不同经济周期阶段下表现的一般规律,为战略性行业配置和投资决策提供有价值的参考信息。     

Knowledge flow and inter-firm networks: The influence of network resources,spatial proximity and firm size

The objective of this paper is to analyse the characteristics and nature of the networks that firms utilize to access knowledge and facilitate innovation. The paper draws on the notion of network resources, distinguishing two types: social capital–consisting of the social relations and networks held by individuals; and network capital–consisting of the strategic and calculative relations and networks held by firms. The methodological approach consists of a quantitative analysis of data from a survey of firms operating in knowledge-intensive sectors of activity. The key findings include: social capital investment is more prevalent among firms frequently interacting with actors from within their own region; social capital investment is related to the size of firms; firm size plays a role in knowledge network patterns; and network dynamism is an important source of innovation. Overall, firms investing more in the development of their inter-firm and other external knowledge networks enjoy higher levels of innovation. It is suggested that an over-reliance on social capital forms of network resource investment may hinder the capability of firms to manage their knowledge networks. It is concluded that the link between a dynamic inter-firm network environment and innovation provides an alternative thesis to that advocating the advantage of network stability.     

警惕我国企业集群发展中潜在问题

企业集群是当今区域经济发展规划的新趋势 ,引起了多学科领域学者关注。我国已经出现了一些企业集群的雏形 ,但是这些企业集群都存在不同的问题。以东莞、温州及部分的高新区为例 ,从各自的形成过程、发展轨迹等角度 ,讨论了各具特色的区域集群存在的不同性质的问题     

Australia's regional innovation systems: inter-industry interaction in innovative activities in three Australian territories

Regional specifics reveal in differences in economic activity and structure, the institutional, socio-economic and cultural environment and not least in the capability of regions to create new knowledge and to generate innovations. Focusing on the regional level, this paper for three Australian territories (New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland) explores patterns of innovative activities in their private business sectors. Furthermore, these patterns are compared to specifics of each region's economic structure. We make use of input–output-based innovation flow networks, which are directed and weighted instead of binary. The value added of the proposed analysis is that we are able to trace a variety of different aspects related to the structure of innovative activities for each territory. It gets evident that mostly innovative activities in each territory are not strong in ‘niche’ branches but in fields of intense economic activity, signalising the high path-dependency of innovative activities in a specific geographical environment.     

Analysis of the impact of Sino-US trade friction on China’s stock market based on complex networks

This paper analyzes the impact of the Sino-US trade friction incident in 2018 on China's stock market by using the complex network methods. Firstly, we divide the Sino-US trade friction incident in 2018 into four research periods. Based on the GARCH-BEKK model and the Planar Maximum Filter Graph (PMFG) algorithm, the volatility spillover network between China's stock market sectors and the stock price correlation network of China's stock market corresponding to the above four research periods are constructed. Next, from the perspective of sectors in stock market, we use various network centrality indicators to build a systematic importance comprehensive evaluation index of industry sectors in the stock market through the principal component analysis method, to explore the impact of the Sino-US trade friction incident on the risk spillover effects of sectors in China's stock market. From the perspective of the overall stock market, we analyze the impact of Sino-US trade friction incident on the overall stability of the stock market through calculating the network topology indicators and conducting simulation experiments. Finally, the main factors affecting the stability mechanism of China's stock market are studied through the probit model. The results show that: (1) The risk spillover effect of various sectors in China's stock market changes significantly in different periods of Sino-US trade friction, and there are obvious cyclical rotation effects among various sectors (2) When some weighted stocks in the stock market abnormally fluctuate or suffer targeted shocks, the China's stock market's ability to maintain stability is weak, and the Sino-US trade friction will reduce the stability of China's stock market, and the higher the intensity of trade friction incident is, the more obvious the impact of the incident is. (3) The important factors that affect the abnormal fluctuations in China's stock market include four types of indicators: the stock market network structure, the fluctuation of important international stock indexes, the fluctuation of commodity prices in the international market, and the domestic macroeconomic indicators. This study provides a reference for China's financial regulatory authorities to conduct macro-prudential management, control systemic risks, and maintain the stability of financial market.     

集群企业创业传导仿真的构建分析

集群企业二次创业已成为产业集群转型升级的重要路径,而集群企业网络影响了集群企业的二次创业行为。本文从复杂网络视角出发,在对集群企业网络与复杂网络模型之间耦合关系的探讨基础上,分析了用仿真方法构建集群企业网络,探讨了如何模拟集群企业网络中创业行为的传导,为刻画现实的集群企业创业行为传导过程和效果提供了新的分析思路。     

区域性产业聚集的机制、效应及其实证分析

随着经济全球化发展和经济技术竞争日益激烈,产业集群在经济发展中的地位和作用日趋重要,并成为推动区域经济实现跨越式发展的重要引擎。围绕核心企业而形成的关联产业集聚是产业集群形成和发展的一个重要特点。大型核心企业带动配套型中小企业发展形成产业聚集,而产业聚集产生的群体效率、低交易成本是打造产业竞争优势的关键所在。反过来,在实施地域品牌战略的过程中,产业集群的发展必然推动大型核心企业的形成,并担当创造企业品牌乃至地域产业品牌的重任,以提升集群声誉和知名度。由于大企业网络创新能力强,创新者的利益能更好地实现,而且创新力更持久、更具有集成优势,所以由大企业网络带动的现代产业集群比传统的产业集群更具有不可动摇的竞争力。     

On the Construction of the European Economic Sentiment Indicator*

Economic sentiment surveys are carried out by all European Union member states and are often seen as early indicators for future economic developments. Based on these surveys, the European Commission constructs an aggregate European Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI). This paper compares the ESI with more sophisticated aggregation schemes based on statistical methods: dynamic factor analysis and partial least squares. The indicator based on partial least squares clearly outperforms the other two indicators in terms of comovement with economic activity. In terms of forecast ability, the ESI, constructed in a rather ad hoc way, can compete with the other indicators.     

Industry Dynamics and Competition from Low‐Wage Countries: Evidence on Italy

This article analyses the effect of competition from low‐wage countries on domestic activity, using data on 230 Italian manufacturing sectors between 1995 and 2007. It finds that low‐wage import penetration is negatively related to employment and other measures of activity. The effect is significantly smaller in more skill, capital and R&D‐intensive sectors and in more vertically differentiated sectors. There is also evidence of significant effects of low‐wage competition through inter‐industry linkages: employment is negatively related to low‐wage import penetration in downstream sectors but positively related to low‐wage import penetration in upstream sectors.     

The Impact of Climate Change on the Pattern of Demand for Bottled Water and Non‐Alcoholic Beverages

To date, the majority of the research literature on the impacts of climate change has addressed the negative aspect, i.e. the risks associated with a future permanent modification of climate. Potential opportunities have received much less attention and are rarely transformed into monetary values. Furthermore, manufacturing is one of the economic sectors where the influence of climate change remains practically unknown, although the economic performance of some industrial activities depends directly on climatic conditions – bottled water and non‐alcoholic beverages (i.e. soft drinks and fruit juices) are among these. This paper aims to explore the link between weather and product sales in these sectors, and estimate in quantitative terms the potential impact of future climate change on their revenues. Historic data were explored through statistical analysis and appropriate regression models were developed. Models were applied for the historic (1961–90) and future climate (2021–50) and the difference in sales forms the expected quantified impact of climate change. The results indicate that significant opportunities may arise for some sectors from modifications in climate, provided their production infrastructure can meet the expected demand and their management strategies can successfully adapt to altered climatic conditions. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

Networks and market-based measures of systemic risk: the European banking system in the aftermath of the financial crisis

This article investigates the behaviour of the European banking system during the financial crises that occurred in the last decades. Among the various approaches for measuring systemic risk, we consider network analysis, which describes the linkages among financial institutions and their whole structure. We construct a time-varying network of the European banking system. Banks are linked to form a global interconnected system and they mutually influence one another in terms of risk. We model their reciprocal influence via a weighted and directed network, in which weights are related to risk measures that are based on equity returns. Then, we apply two network indicators to investigate the prominence of a bank in spreading and receiving risk from the others. The results enable us to capture many features of the banking system while identifying the global systemically important banks. Moreover, the results of the analysis over time show how interconnections change over periods that are characterized by various economic scenarios.

     

首都圈区域空间就业分布结构分析

基于第二次全国经济普查分区县18个行业的就业人口数据,以局部空间自相关G系数为衡量标准,对首都圈120个地理单元的就业热点即集聚中心进行判定,分析首都圈的区域空间结构。运用SOFM神经网络聚类对区域内分区县的行业门类进行聚类,探讨首都圈内部各城市职能分工以及首都圈经济结构及空间组合特征。研究表明:首都圈呈现"‘一主一次’双核、一廊、七中心"的区域空间结构特征;北京和天津在区域内具有综合性服务职能,河北七地市的中心城区职能各有侧重,但都具有地区性中心的职能。     

The success and failure of policy-implanted inter-firm network initiatives: motivations,processes and structure

This paper examines the processes and causes of inter-firm network success and failure, defined in terms of the ability of networks to become a sustained and valued form of business activity for their members. The paper examines four different case study network initiatives: (1) a failed informal ‘new entrepreneurs' network’ (2) a successful informal ‘local cluster group’ (3) a failed formal ‘defence contractors' network’ and (4) a successful formal ‘small-firm technology group’. It is shown that networks in business are often consciously developed and maintained by those managing directors who have recognized the importance of cooperative activities for achieving competitive advantage for their companies. The best network support consisted of brokers who are able to mix and overlap the ‘hard’ business and ‘softer’ social interests of participants. The case studies indicate that it is formal groups that are the most potent form of inter-firm network, but that it is through an initially informal structure that they are best facilitated. It is concluded that both economic and social rationalities are at play in the motivation of firms to join networks, and that their success is closely connected to pre-existing commonality between members.     

Structural change and blurred sectoral boundaries: assessing the extent to which knowledge-intensive business services satisfy manufacturing final demand in Western countries

This paper focuses on the vertical integration of knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) into manufacturing sectors, using a subsystem approach to input–output analysis. It aims at correctly assessing the process of structural change that has occurred in the four main European countries (France, Germany, Italy and the UK) over time (1995–2005). It does not focus on KIBS sectors per se, but on their function as carriers and sources of knowledge which influences the performance of sectors, value chains and clusters across industries and within countries. The analysis shows that KIBS’ contribution to satisfying the final demand of manufacturing is in general largely underestimated; that KIBS vertical integration into manufacturing has increased over time in all the countries investigated except the UK; and that the extent to which manufacturing sectors outsource to KIBS is significantly affected by their technological intensity.     

SELECTED PAPERS FROM THE 1989 PACIFIC RIM COUNCIL ON URBAN DEVELOPMENT (PRCUD) CONFERENCE

This paper outlines three fundamental reasons underlying the need for more active communication between sectors (private, public and academic) and between urban centers in the Pacific Rim. First, the public and private sectors must, by virtue of their raisons d'etre, operate at close quarters. Secondly, the context in which urban development takes place is increasingly complex. This suggests a role for scholars in helping to inform the debate on urban development processes. Finally, many cities in the Pacific Rim region are increasingly bound to one another through flows of population, capital, information and trade. The key to understanding the evolution of individual urban areas within this region may well be through increased knowledge of the network as a whole.     

An analytical model for the formation of economic clusters

A simple spatial economy derived from microeconomic foundations is presented to gain insight into the formation of economic clusters. In this model, the formation of economic clusters is a consequence of the competition between economic forces that are consistent with atomistic agents maximizing their utility. An analytic approach is used to obtain the evolution of economic clusters. With this approach, the number of clusters which will grow can be predicted. These results are derived in the traditional one-dimensional geometry and extended to the more realistic two-dimensional landscape.