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Abstract
This paper focuses on the effects of social capital on industrial clusters. Close networks with strong ties provide benefits for the companies involved in terms of knowledge flow; however, they can also have some negative effects such as knowledge redundancy and obsolescence. We propose an explanatory model to study factors and mediators affecting the redundancy of transmitted knowledge. The model has been applied to a sample of 152 companies in two Spanish industrial clusters. Findings suggest that although strength of ties was associated with redundancy, structural dispersion and local institutions have a negative effect on knowledge redundancy. The findings have a number of relevant implications for individual firms and their policies.
Acknowledgements
This research was supported financially by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science research project number ECO2008-04708/ECON.
Notes
ATEVAL (“Asociación de Empresarios Textiles de la Comunidad Valenciana”) this trade association was created in order to support and defend textile manufacturers. Nowadays, it is the main representative association of this industry and includes more than 550 member firms.
ASCER (“Asociación Española de Fabricantes de Azulejos”) this trade association was created in order to support and defend ceramic tile manufacturers. Nowadays, it is the main representative association of this industry and includes more than 200 member firms.
ARDAN Valencia region was a database published by IMPIVA, the main public industrial policy agency at the regional level that provides financial and production information about all companies located in the Valencia region. We used textile process which involved industrial activities.
SABI was a directory of Spanish and Portuguese companies that collected general information and financial data. In the case of Spain, it has information on more than 95% of the companies of the 17 Spanish regions with total yearly revenues over €360,000–420,000.
