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New Roles for Supporting Organizations in Clusters: Enhancing Connectedness in Knowledge Networks

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Agglomeration and Firm Performance

Part of the book series: Advances in Spatial Science ((ADVSPATIAL))

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Abstract

In today’s context of economic crisis, certain structures such as industrial clusters have been forced to change in order to remain competitive. For years, local supporting organizations have been focused on strengthening cluster networks, providing specialized services, and fostering innovation practices. Nowadays, thanks to their increasing connectivity, supporting organizations have become hybridizers and catalyzers of knowledge that spreads among local firms after an intense process of refinement. Acting as mediators between local firms and gatekeepers of extra-cluster knowledge, they smooth firms’ access to fresh knowledge and nourish the innovativeness of the system. Using data collected in the Toy Valley cluster during 2014, this chapter looks at the mechanisms allowing supporting organizations to successfully diffuse knowledge and pays attention to these two in-between positions. In line with previous research, findings corroborate the particular relevance of facilitators of knowledge. However, important differences emerge when considering the profile of the local organization and the type of knowledge shared.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The respective questions read as follows: (a) To which of the following firms on the list did you regularly ask for technical advice? (b) To which of the following firms on the list did you regularly ask for business information?

  2. 2.

    Supporting organizations comprise government agencies, business associations, universities, and technical centers. Suppliers are mainly providers of specialized inputs for the toy industry (e.g., eyes and hair for dolls). The final category, others, amalgamates firms producing nonspecialized inputs (e.g., boxes).

  3. 3.

    Values reflect mean differences between the group of interest and the rest of the sample. Only statistically significant positive mean differences are highlighted to ease the interpretation of results.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economic and Financial Studies, University Miguel Hernandez, Elche, Spain

    Jose Antonio Belso-Martinez, Maria Jose Lopez-Sanchez & Rosario Mateu-Garcia

Authors
  1. Jose Antonio Belso-Martinez
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  2. Maria Jose Lopez-Sanchez
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  3. Rosario Mateu-Garcia
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Correspondence to Jose Antonio Belso-Martinez .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dipto. Scienze Economiche, Marco Fanno, Università di Padova, Padova, Italy

    Fiorenza Belussi

  2. ESIC Business and Marketing School, Madrid, Spain

    Jose-Luis Hervas-Oliver

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Belso-Martinez, J.A., Lopez-Sanchez, M.J., Mateu-Garcia, R. (2018). New Roles for Supporting Organizations in Clusters: Enhancing Connectedness in Knowledge Networks. In: Belussi, F., Hervas-Oliver, JL. (eds) Agglomeration and Firm Performance. Advances in Spatial Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90575-4_11

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