Industrial clusters play a pivotal role in securing competitive advantages and achieving national strategic objectives within the new energy sector. The assessment of new energy industrial clusters ...is crucial for sustaining their swift development. However, prior research has rarely addressed this domain. In this study, a Multi-Criterion Decision-Making (MCDM) approach is introduced for the assessment of new energy industrial clusters. This approach employs the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) super efficiency method alongside the Grounding-Enterprise-Market-Surrounding (GEMS) model to evaluate the efficiency and competitiveness of new energy industrial clusters, respectively. Subsequently, this approach categorizes new energy industrial clusters based on their efficiency and competitiveness scores. Clusters exhibiting similar scores in these areas are grouped together for the identification of key new energy industrial clusters. Ultimately, the selection of key new energy industrial clusters is performed based on varying criteria. A case study on the selection of prominent solar energy industrial clusters is presented to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed approach. The findings indicate that this approach facilitates an effective selection process for key new energy industrial clusters.
By investigating 46 industrial clusters in 286 Chinese cities, this paper shows that: (1) regional innovation occurs mainly in traded industrial clusters; (2) regional innovation is positively ...related to the level of industrial cluster specialization but irrelevant to industrial cluster diversification; (3) R&D is consistently conducive to regional innovation.
•Regional innovation correlates positively to level of traded industrial cluster.•Regional innovation has no relationship with level of local industrial cluster.•Regional innovation is positively related to industrial cluster specialization.•Regional innovation is irrelevant to industrial cluster diversification.•R&D is consistently conducive to regional innovation.
•Clustering of musicians is shaped both by agglomeration economies and state power.•Musicians’ mobility reflects intensified and restructured regional cooperation.•Digitalisation has complicated and ...precarious impacts on the music industry.
This study explores music geography beyond the Anglo-American circle through an investigation of the spatiality and mobility of musical workers in a Chinese context. Drawing on a dataset containing the information of 3,689 influential musicians in China’s music market, we investigated the (1) geographical landscape of China’s music industry, (2) spatial mobility of musicians at different stages of their careers, and (3) impact of digital technologies on the clustering of creative musical workers. Our study discovers a conspicuous clustering of post-work musicians in large metropolises, which reflects both the dynamics of scale and scope economies and the influence of state on the offering of cultural infrastructures and institutions in China. Most Chinese musicians have high trans-regional mobility and target locations (increasingly on the Chinese mainland) with large consumer markets or important art education institutions. The impact of geographical distance and agglomeration economies on musicians’ mobility varies at different stages of their careers. In addition, while digitalisation generates certain decentralising effects, enabling more musicians in formerly peripheral areas to enter the market and reducing the need for long-distance mobility, it also strengthens the advantages of dominant music clusters and produces precarious and volatile consequences in China’s music industry.
The paradoxical tensions in corporate sustainability is hotly debated in the literature. Some authors have underlined the need for empirical works in this field, and the circular economy could help ...to bridge this gap. The circular economy creates contrasting challenges for companies, which lead to paradoxical tensions. On the one hand, companies pursue circular economy goals—such as the use of recycled raw materials—thus highlighting their environmental commitment. On the other hand, such usage may affect the quality and consequently the competitiveness of products. Our study investigates the acknowledgement of these tensions and the strategies adopted by companies to manage them. Using a multiple case study approach, we focus on an Italian sample of three manufacturing sectors: paper production, textile/clothing, and leather. The results show the different defensive and proactive strategies adopted by firms highlighting, in one case, a relevant opportunity exploited by a company considered in the sample. Our paper contributes to the existing knowledge on paradoxical tensions management in companies involved in corporate sustainability inviting scholars towards new research avenues focused on circular economy.
After decades of studies about pervasive, wide, and inclusive knowledge externalities and the advantages of being there, recent literature on management, industrial marketing, economic geography, ...regional studies, and related fields has stressed that knowledge spreads imperfectly, unevenly, and selectively within regional and cluster contexts. In this respect, little is known about the role played by heterogeneous knowledge ties among the same set of actors and to what extent they follow overlapping or different routes of exchanging knowledge. Thus, an investigation of multiple knowledge networks in clusters is a fundamental approach to interpret the reasons for innovation and economic performance.
With an original dataset comprised of data collected by surveys directly administered in local wineries in the Montefalco wine region of Italy, this paper aims to analyse the roles played by different local knowledge ties within a sector that is critically driven by the exchange of knowledge among economic actors. Social network analysis and exponential random graph modelling were applied to investigate the driving forces of the knowledge flows. The empirical results showed that economic and social ties positively affect the spread of knowledge, but the former has a higher magnitude impact than the latter. Moreover, they follow complementary routes of exchange rather than overlapping ones. We suggest that such a structure has implications for understanding the diffusion of knowledge and structures of innovation in cluster contexts.
•A multiple network approach is built to study knowledge exchange and innovation.•Social, economic and multiple ties among clustered firms are investigated.•An ERGM is implemented to study determinants of local diffusion of knowledge.•Different relationships positively but differently impact the spread of knowledge.•Network complementarity is the critical structure of the diffusion of knowledge.
This paper illustrates how an industrial cluster can be created when there is little established industry from which the cluster can evolve. Industrial clusters are known to give firms superior ...performance by improving the competitiveness of regions. There is significant debate on effective strategies to create new industrial clusters.
Incorporating evidence from a systematic literature review supported by quantitative data this study demonstrates that an industrial cluster can be created without a preestablished industrial base. The medical device cluster in Galway, Ireland is used for the study.
The results show how government policies supported the cluster's creation. The engagement of key institutions and stakeholders improved the competitive factors in a self-reinforcing cycle. Using a theoretical model, the growth of the cluster is explained. The paper suggests measures to assess the health of a cluster and identifies the importance of geographic location. Policies to improve a cluster need to be focused on closely bounded regions and not dispersed.
•Provides a model for the development of industrial clusters.•Provides a list of influencing factors of industrial clusters development.•Examines the effects of different policies by applying System ...Dynamics approach.•If the intended policies apply, the cluster will become bigger and grow faster.
Clusters are a suitable method for creating competitive advantage, not only for enterprises of the same cluster, but also for the country on which the clusters are based. In this regard, development of industrial clusters has been considered in most of developed and developing countries. Accordingly, the present study was carried out to provide a model for development of industrial clusters and to investigate the effects of different policies by applying System Dynamics (SD) approach. The proposed conceptual model includes cluster size, interaction of the clusters with the suppliers, staff, internal and external market demand, production capacity, training and research institutions, investment, etc. Considered policies include strategies of the firms such as increasing the utilization of production capacity, reducing lead time as well as national and international policies, such as granting low-interest governmental loans, sanctions cancellation, etc. Results of the study showed that, if the intended policies are applied, the cluster will become larger and grow faster.
As a special industrial cluster policy, “development zones” (DZs) represent the growth poles of the regions in which they are located; in China, they fulfill the dual tasks of industrial upgrading ...and green transformation. While the existing literature has paid close attention to the economic effects of development zones, few efforts have been made to examine their climate effects. Therefore, in the context of China's efforts to achieve “carbon peaking and carbon neutrality”, this paper for the first time provides evidence of the effect of development zones on urban carbon emission performance; it does this by constructing a difference-in-difference (DID) model, which is based on panel data for Chinese cities in the period 1997–2017. The findings of the study indicate that the establishment of development zones had a positive influence on urban carbon emission performance without time lag effects. Our heterogeneity analysis of city groups indicated that development zones located in eastern region, or in large or coastal cities, exerted a more significant impact. The mechanism analysis that we conducted demonstrates that development zones promote carbon emissions performance by increasing GDP and reducing carbon emissions. Finally, this paper puts forward a series of policy measures, which are intended to strengthen the environmental benefit of development zones within the context of an urban green transition.
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•Select the super-efficiency SBM model to estimate the urban carbon emission performance•The development zone exerted a significant positive impact on urban carbon emission performance.•The impact of development zone on urban carbon emission performance existed regional difference.•Urban GDP and carbon emission were important mediating variables of climate impacts of development zone.
•Sustainable energy systems, modelling and simulation concepts are discussed.•Modelling and simulation of energy systems are systematically presented.•The model is applied to a multi-vector ...industrial cluster case study.•Cluster energy efficiency is a crucial step towards decarbonisation.•Electrification of heat and renewable generation can enable grid island mode.
Critical for achieving the United Kingdom's net-zero targets, decarbonising industrial clusters would require robust tools to assess the feasibility of decarbonisation technologies and investment solutions. This paper presents an integrated energy system planning tool for decarbonising industrial clusters. The adoption of the transfer functions method enables the development of individual component models for technologies, networks, and loads, facilitating the control and simulation of complex dynamics in multi-energy system operation, as demonstrated in a case study investigating heat and power demands of a dynamic hybrid cluster, with evaluation of decarbonisation implications including heat electrification, renewables, and fuel switching in both grid-connected and island modes to establish potential pathways for decarbonisation. With the implementation of these decarbonisation measures in the case study cluster, primary energy demand, costs, emissions, and energy losses were reduced by 42%, 71%, 53%, and 72% in grid mode and by 40%, 70%, 53%, and 63% in island mode, and higher losses in island mode is due to excess heat production by electric boilers intended to consume all available power. While outcomes might differ among various clusters due to their specific features, the study cluster, characterised by substantial heat demand compared to electricity and significant electricity exports, achieves significant emission reduction via heat electrification compared to other individual decarbonisation technology. Moreover, this tool will be instrumental in helping industrial clusters formulate comprehensive decarbonisation roadmaps based on informed decisions.
The paper explores Coastal Energy-Based Industrial Clusters (EBICs) and their role in advancing energy efficiency and sustainability through collaborative innovation. Economic growth theory and ...energy sustainability have been introduced into industrial clusters to illustrate indicators that have a greater impact on the development of EBICs. This paper proposes an EBICs development model based on the Cobb-Douglas function, in which accounts for various factors that drive the progress of such clusters. The outcomes of the economic model also provide insights into how the interaction of various factors affects the economic growth of EBICs and their eventual dominance in the energy market of coastal regions, dependent on gradually investing in areas such as research and development (R&D). Different development strategies demonstrate that the final development of a cluster has low dependence on the cluster's initial advantages. The study also illustrates how clusters can gradually monopolize the energy market, even with initial disadvantages. Through quantitative analysis, it showcases the transformation process of developing advantageous clusters into sub-clusters. Next, an energy symbiosis framework for coastal is proposed, which places greater emphasis on the multi-energy complementary system and reduces production costs. Finally, this paper also sheds light on shaping energy strategies for public authorities who shape economic policies at various levels of aggregation and in diverse dimensions.
•Multi-energy complementarity provides a new path for sustainable development of coastal energy.•Hardware investment is critical to the development of energy-based industry clusters.•Clusters with better natural advantages may become sub-clusters due to incorrect development strategies.•The essence of energy cluster development is the result of the interaction of multiple influencing factors.•The economic growth of energy clusters depends on the proportion of investment in software and hardware.
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