Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
accumulation ef ects linked to the integration of innovative activities across geographi-
cally dispersed units.
MNE technological experience is a fundamental ingredient of a cumulative process
of development, as it has a positive and signii cant impact on the creation of knowledge
linkages and of extensive networks of relationships with local i rms endowed with com-
plementary assets (Castellani and Zanfei, 2002). The presence of a number of leading
foreign-owned companies tends to attract further knowledge, to stimulate spin-of s and
to generate a positive cycle: once a cluster establishes itself as a technology hotspot, it
can experience rapid and continuous growth. Localised knowledge stocks are thus very
important, in so far as the cumulative nature of innovation will tend to make advan-
taged regions more advantaged compared to others in the next round of innovations
on the basis of the accumulated knowledge stock (Beaudry and Breschi, 2000; Malerba,
1992).
Since technology is localised and context-specii c, the technological trajectories of
large MNEs tend to lock in to particular spatial coni gurations. However, the cumulative
and incremental nature of technological change implies that the day-to-day adaptation
of technology, through an interaction between innovative and production activities of
i rms, has a more pervasive ef ect than the major technological shifts, which generate
entirely new products and production processes. In other words, to secure the long-term
objectives of strategic competitiveness, MNEs need a current commitment to the regen-
eration of core technologies that can provide the basis for possible more radical innova-
tion (Pearce and Papanastassiou, 2007).
The classii cation presented in Table 8.2 may of er a grid for interpreting the critical
issue of the evolving 'global versus local' interaction. As is said above, all three categories
are predicated on the existence of knowledge spillovers, which however dif er in scope
and nature across the spatial typologies, and are subject to shifts over time. A few brief
examples can be used to illustrate the dif erent directions of shifts in such interactions,
and their impact on geographical agglomeration.
The early development of the global automobile industry on both sides of the Atlantic
approximated to something akin to 'pure agglomeration' (Boschma and Wenting, 2007;
Hall, 1998), but over time this system evolved to represent the classic 'industrial complex'
model we now see (Best, 1990), which is dominated by large oligopolistic producers,
clustered in particular localities, with complex and highly organised input-output supply
chain systems (Markusen, 1996). The evolutionary process of this location-specii c sector
has therefore been primarily from pure agglomeration to industrial complex.
If we consider the transformation of the Italian industrial districts in the light of the
process of internationalisation, we may indeed argue that 'the industrial district has
often proved to be rather a “stage” in one of the possible dif erent paths of industrializa-
tion' (Becattini, 1987, p. 32). As such, this case now provides examples of evolutionary
transitions from 'old social networks' to something that exhibits many of the relational
characteristics of the 'industrial complex' model, except for a greatly reduced geographic
localisation of many of the input-output linkages often transferred into MNEs' global
production networks (see for example Belussi and Sammarra, 2010; Garofoli, 2003).
On the other hand, some recent empirical evidence seems to indicate the possibility
for mature industrial regions characterised by spatial agglomerations of the 'old social
network' type to undergo a process of revitalisation of technological capabilities towards
Search WWH ::




Custom Search