How do innovation intermediaries facilitate knowledge spillovers within industrial clusters? A knowledge-processing perspective

Abstract

From a knowledge-processing perspective, this study presents an integrative conceptual framework to analyse the roles of innovation intermediaries within knowledge systems of industrial clusters. The empirical basis of the conceptual framework is demonstrated with an in-depth case study of Zhejiang Institute of Modern Textile Industry, an innovation intermediary that greatly facilitates knowledge spillover, application and integration in the Shaoxing Textile industrial cluster in China. This case analysis shows that an innovation intermediary can play the roles of technology gatekeeper, technology spanner, technical problem solver, and innovation resource integrator within the knowledge system of an industrial cluster. In addition, examining the process of intermediation reveals that absorptive capacity, knowledge complexity, presence of a structural hole and network centrality are critical to the role in which innovation intermediaries function within the knowledge systems of industrial clusters.

Keywords:

• innovation intermediary
• industrial cluster
• absorptive capacity
• structural hole
• knowledge complexity

Acknowledgements

The funding provided by the International Development Research Center (IDRC, Grant no. 106341-001), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC, Grant no. 71202129), and the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant no. R6090360) are gratefully acknowledged.