Boundary spanners and the external market reach of clusters: the case of the Jingdezhen ceramics cluster in China

ABSTRACT

Extra-local linkages are increasingly understood as key drivers of cluster development. The literature, however, tends to be overwhelmingly concerned with global production and knowledge linkages, paying insufficient attention to extra-local market linkages. To address this research lacuna, through a case study of the Jingdezhen ceramics cluster in China, the paper investigates the ‘market reach’ process to unpack how diverse individual actors, conceptualized as ‘boundary spanners’, have enabled this cluster to forge extra-local market linkages. More specifically, it identifies three market reach mechanisms, namely: convening quasi-permanent clusters locally, facilitating participation in external temporary clusters and establishing one-to-one market relationships.

KEYWORDS:

• cluster development
• cluster globalization
• boundary spanner
• temporary cluster
• global pipelines
• market construction

JEL:

• O1

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors thank the editor and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive suggestions. All errors are the authors’ own responsibility.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by a Graduate Research Scholarship from the National University of Singapore and the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant numbers 42101178, 42171189 and 42001138].