Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
4. At the opposite end, scholars have noted that too dense networks and tight forms of social control may
cause undesirable ef ects in the economy of a cluster (Gordon and McCann, 2005).
5. See, for example, works on 'collective learning' (see
Regional Studies
,
33
(4), 1999) and 'collective ei -
ciency' (see
World Development
,
27
(9), 1999).
6 For this reason, this chapter performs an analysis of multiplexity, which tests the existence of a statisti-
cal relationship between sets of networks composed of the same nodes (Lazega and Pattison, 1999). This
allows the ef ects of networks to be studied considering their structural properties, rather than the char-
acteristics of the individual i rms (see section 3).
7. The dei nition of innovation-related knowledge transfer used in this chapter is fairly simplistic. However,
pilot interviews for this study have revealed that the knowledge transfer aimed at the solution of technical
problems is a predominant and very important part of the inter-i rm knowledge dif usion process in wine
clusters. This in turn may be considered a relevant source of innovation for i rms, as indicated by von
Hippel (1987).
8.
Note that selectivity entails not only a lower density of linkages, but also an uneven distribution of them.
Thus, whereas it is conceivable that the restricted way of dei ning knowledge linkages in this work may
inl uence their lower density, the same does not necessarily apply to their distribution.
9.
The choice of the journal was made on the basis of two criteria: international respectability in the wine
industry, free availability on the web and ample coverage (countries, vintages, wine areas).
10.
It is worth noting that the majority of the wines tasted are submitted to
Wine Spectator
by the wineries or
their US importers. Additionally, the journal spends substantial ef ort in buying and reviewing wines that
are not submitted, at all price levels. Accordingly, a i rm's wines may not be rated for three main reasons:
i rst, because of a self-selection ef ect, i rms with poor quality achievements will have little incentive to
send their wines to the journal for assessment. Second, US importers will not recommend and signal wines
to
Wine Spectator
when they consider them of poor quality. Third,
Wine Spectator
itself selects out all
the wineries producing very poor quality wines. These considerations suggest therefore that i rms whose
wines are not rated tend to be poor performers. The same applies for i rms whose wines are rated but are
assigned less than 70 points.
11.
When asked this question, professionals were requested to mention only i rms with which any linkage was
formed for a business-related matter, independent of the underlying reasons that led to the formation of
that linkage - for example whether it was based on the existence of a solid friendship between the parties
or on purely arm's-length relations. For the sake of simplicity in data collection, this question does not
allow market-based relationships to be disentangled from socio-institutional relationships.
12.
Density refers to the number of linkages present in a network, calculated on the theoretical maximum,
while fragmentation is a measure that counts the number of pairs of nodes that are disconnected from
each other. See also the Appendix for details on these measures.
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