Structure and Strategy within Heterogeneity: Multiple Dimensions of Regional Networking

Abstract

Clusters are highly differentiated across sectors, regions and countries – both theoretical and empirical approaches therefore have to avoid universalization. Based on recent approaches various forms of network relations and possible contents of interactions of firms connected with knowledge exchange are elaborated. It will be argued that these interactions are distinctively structured, that the diffusion of knowledge is highly selective and strongly dependent on the position of firms within networks and on their absorptive capacity. By applying network analysis to different dimensions of interactions between firms it is shown that physical linkages within the medium technology cluster under scrutiny are rather weak, that interactions based on different forms of knowledge exchange are denser, and that direct links to the science base seem to be more prominent than long term supplier networks.