IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/egu/wpaper/1108.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Knowledge in the air and cooperation between firms: Traditions of secrecy and the reluctant emergence of specialization in the ceramic manufacturing district of Lampang, Thailand

Author

Listed:
  • Weeranan Kamnungwut
  • Frederick Guy

Abstract

In the study of industrial clusters, the relative importance, and possible interrelationship, of inter-firm cooperation in production and broad knowledge transfers (both unintentional spillovers and intentional sharing) have long been disputed. To shed light on this we study ceramic tableware manufacturers in the city of Lampang, Thailand. Data consist of face-to-face interviews with principals in thirty-four manufacturers, and with representatives of supporting institutions. We find that an unwillingness to share knowledge with potential competitors retards the development of specialization in production; the outcome of efforts by various government actors and some manufacturers to change this situation is uncertain.

Suggested Citation

  • Weeranan Kamnungwut & Frederick Guy, 2011. "Knowledge in the air and cooperation between firms: Traditions of secrecy and the reluctant emergence of specialization in the ceramic manufacturing district of Lampang, Thailand," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 1108, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised May 2011.
  • Handle: RePEc:egu:wpaper:1108
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://econ.geo.uu.nl/peeg/peeg1108.pdf
    File Function: Version May 2011
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Storper, Michael & Harrison, Bennett, 1991. "Flexibility, hierarchy and regional development: The changing structure of industrial production systems and their forms of governance in the 1990s," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 20(5), pages 407-422, October.
    2. Henry Farrell & Jack Knight, 2003. "Trust, Institutions, and Institutional Change: Industrial Districts and the Social Capital Hypothesis," Politics & Society, , vol. 31(4), pages 537-566, December.
    3. Susana Borrás & Dimitrios Tsagdis, 2008. "Cluster Policies in Europe," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 4134.
    4. Humphrey, John & Schmitz, Hubert, 1996. "The Triple C approach to local industrial policy," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(12), pages 1859-1877, December.
    5. Iammarino, Simona & McCann, Philip, 2006. "The structure and evolution of industrial clusters: Transactions, technology and knowledge spillovers," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 1018-1036, September.
    6. Ron Martin & Peter Sunley, 2003. "Deconstructing clusters: chaotic concept or policy panacea?," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 3(1), pages 5-35, January.
    7. Edward Lorenz, 1988. "Neither Friends nor Strangers," Post-Print halshs-00483728, HAL.
    8. Schmitz, Hubert, 1995. "Small shoemakers and fordist giants: Tale of a supercluster," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 9-28, January.
    9. Ian R. Gordon & Philip McCann, 2000. "Industrial Clusters: Complexes, Agglomeration and/or Social Networks?," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 37(3), pages 513-532, March.
    10. Pablo D'Este & Frederick Guy & Simona Iammarino, 2013. "Shaping the formation of university--industry research collaborations: what type of proximity does really matter?," Journal of Economic Geography, Oxford University Press, vol. 13(4), pages 537-558, July.
    11. Ann Markusen, 1996. "Sticky Places in Slippery Space: A Typology of Industrial Districts," Economic Geography, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 72(3), pages 293-313, July.
    12. Nadvi, Khalid, 1999. "Collective Efficiency and Collective Failure: The Response of the Sialkot Surgical Instrument Cluster to Global Quality Pressures," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 27(9), pages 1605-1626, September.
    13. Ron Boschma, 2005. "Proximity and Innovation: A Critical Assessment," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(1), pages 61-74.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jiang Wei & Minfei Zhou & Mark Greeven & Hongyan Qu, 2016. "Economic governance, dual networks and innovative learning in five Chinese industrial clusters," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 33(4), pages 1037-1074, December.
    2. Maryann Feldman & Frederick Guy & Simona Iammarino, 2021. "Regional income disparities, monopoly and finance," Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 14(1), pages 25-49.
    3. Sam Tavassoli, 2011. "A Comparative Investigation of Firms' Innovative behaviors During Different Stages of the Cluster Life-Cycle (Cover study for PhD dissertation)," ERSA conference papers ersa10p1045, European Regional Science Association.
    4. Iammarino, Simona & McCann, Philip, 2006. "The structure and evolution of industrial clusters: Transactions, technology and knowledge spillovers," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 1018-1036, September.
    5. Campi, Mercedes & Dueñas, Marco, 2022. "Clusters and Resilience during the COVID–19 Crisis: Evidence from Colombian Exporting Firms," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 12527, Inter-American Development Bank.
    6. Fiorenza Belussi & Silvia R. Sedita, 2012. "Industrial Districts as Open Learning Systems: Combining Emergent and Deliberate Knowledge Structures," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(2), pages 165-184, April.
    7. Solène Chesnel & Jérémie Molho & Florian Raimbeau & Hélène Morteau & Dominique Sagot-Duvauroux, 2013. "Les clusters ou districts industriels du domaine culturel et médiatique : revue du savoir économique et questionnement," Working Papers hal-02502563, HAL.
    8. Hervas Oliver,Jose Luis & Gonzalez,Gregorio & Caja,Pedro, 2014. "Clusters and industrial districts: where is the literature going? Identifying emerging sub-fields of research," INGENIO (CSIC-UPV) Working Paper Series 201409, INGENIO (CSIC-UPV).
    9. Simona Iammarino & Philip McCann, 2010. "The Relationship between Multinational Firms and Innovative Clusters," Chapters, in: Ron Boschma & Ron Martin (ed.), The Handbook of Evolutionary Economic Geography, chapter 8, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    10. Elisa Giuliani, 2010. "Clusters, Networks and Economic Development: An Evolutionary Economics Perspective," Chapters, in: Ron Boschma & Ron Martin (ed.), The Handbook of Evolutionary Economic Geography, chapter 12, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    11. Jérôme Vicente & Pierre-Alexandre Balland & Olivier Brossard, 2008. "Getting Into Networks and Clusters: Evidence on the GNSS composite knowledge process in (and from) Midi-Pyrénées," Papers in Evolutionary Economic Geography (PEEG) 0815, Utrecht University, Department of Human Geography and Spatial Planning, Group Economic Geography, revised Oct 2008.
    12. Argentino Pessoa, 2014. "Agglomeration and regional growth policy: externalities versus comparative advantages," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 53(1), pages 1-27, August.
    13. Okamuro, Hiroyuki & Nishimura, Junichi, 2011. "Management of Cluster Policies: Case Studies of Japanese, German, and French Bio-clusters," CEI Working Paper Series 2011-7, Center for Economic Institutions, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    14. Julia Hoffmann & Stefan Hirsch & Johannes Simons, 2017. "Identification of spatial agglomerations in the German food processing industry," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 96(1), pages 139-162, March.
    15. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose & Fabrice Comptour, 2010. "Do clusters generate greater innovation and growth? An analysis of European regions," Working Papers 2010-15, Instituto Madrileño de Estudios Avanzados (IMDEA) Ciencias Sociales.
    16. Ron Boschma & Ron Martin, 2010. "The Aims and Scope of Evolutionary Economic Geography," Chapters, in: Ron Boschma & Ron Martin (ed.), The Handbook of Evolutionary Economic Geography, chapter 1, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    17. Cassandra C Wang & George C S Lin & Guicai Li, 2010. "Industrial Clustering and Technological Innovation in China: New Evidence from the ICT Industry in Shenzhen," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 42(8), pages 1987-2010, August.
    18. Jiang He & M. Hosein Fallah, 2014. "Dynamics of Inventor Networks and the Evolution of Technology Clusters," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(6), pages 2174-2200, November.
    19. Vasileios Kyriazis & Theodore Metaxas, 2023. "Markusen’s Typology with a “European” Twist, the Examples of the French Aerospace Valley Cluster and the Andalucia Aerospace Cluster," World, MDPI, vol. 4(1), pages 1-17, March.
    20. Eisingerich, Andreas B. & Bell, Simon J. & Tracey, Paul, 2010. "How can clusters sustain performance? The role of network strength, network openness, and environmental uncertainty," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 239-253, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ceramic manufacturing; knowledge; Lampang; networks; secrecy; Thailand;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D85 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Network Formation

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:egu:wpaper:1108. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/deguunl.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.