Corker, Chris John, Lane, Joe and Wilson, John (2024) Knowledge flows and industrial clusters:assessing the sources of competitive advantage in two English regions. Enterprise & society. ISSN 1467-2227
Abstract
How knowledge is created, accessed, stored and disseminated has become a major focus of study when assessing the success or failure of industrial clusters. Marshall (1890; 225) initiated this debate when he noted: ‘The mysteries of the trade become no mysteries; but are as it were in the air’. In the edited collection by Wilson, Corker and Lane (2022), emphasis has been placed on the links between knowledge, knowledge flows and how innovation systems evolve and adapt. This paper builds on their work examining how tacit and codified knowledge is created and disseminated across a cluster. Bathelt et al (2004) have demonstrated how successful clusters build effective ‘global pipelines’ to access knowledge generated elsewhere, prompting us to think how a business history analysis can incorporate these concepts and how these processes have worked in practice. The paper analyses two English clusters and the processes involved in the formation of a common body of knowledge, a ‘knowledge-cum-industrial zeitgeist’ which explains the cluster’s performance. Specifically, it proposes a model that links internally-generated knowledge and ‘global pipelines’ that clusters develop to tap into externally-generated knowledge, which through effective feedback into the ‘local buzz’ results in further innovation and strengthens the cluster’s competitive advantage.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s), 2024. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Social Sciences (York) > The York Management School |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 22 Dec 2023 12:00 |
Last Modified: | 16 Oct 2024 19:41 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1017/eso.2023.55 |
Status: | Published online |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1017/eso.2023.55 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:206906 |
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Description: Knowledge Flows and Industrial Clusters: Assessing the Sources of Competitive Advantage in Two English Regions
Licence: CC-BY 2.5