Spin-Offs, Innovation Spillover and the Formation of Agricultural Clusters: The Case of the Vegetable Cluster in Shouguang City, Shandong Province, China

Erling Li, Yanan Xu, Shixin Ren and Jay Lee
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Erling Li: Key Research Institute of Yellow River Civilization and Sustainable Development & Collaborative Innovation Center on Yellow River Civilization of Henan Province, Henan University, Kaifeng 475001, China
Yanan Xu: College of Resources and Environment, Henan University of Economics and Law, Zhengzhou 450046, China
Shixin Ren: Business School, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang 453007, China
Jay Lee: Department of Geography, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242, USA

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 2, 1-18

Abstract: Agricultural clusters play a powerful role in promoting the agricultural transformation and rejuvenation of rural areas. However, no in-depth exploration has been made on how agricultural clusters form and evolve, especially in the context of China’s long-term small-scale rural economy. The purpose of this article is to reveal the formation process and evolution mechanism of agricultural clusters by case study research. With the knowledge flow as the starting point, this article takes the Vegetable Cluster in Shouguang City of Shandong Province, China as an example to construct a theoretical framework in the three dimensions of points (spin-offs of enterprises or farmers), lines (network-spillovers of various innovation) and planes (the formation of new regional industry spaces) and put forward theoretical hypotheses. It is shown that: (1) The local spin-off of seed farmers is the main path in the transformation of traditional farmers into enterprises. (2) The network-spillover and adoption of innovative knowledge promote the derivation of specialized farmers or enterprises and realize regional agricultural specialization and spatial agglomeration. (3) The formation of the agricultural cluster resulted from the joint effects of spin-off derived from the entrepreneurial spirit of the farmers, network-spillover of various agricultural innovations and spatial integration of the agricultural landscape. The formation of local agricultural innovation systems marks the maturity of an agricultural cluster. This article contribute to the field by studying one source of Alfred Marshall’s knowledge of external economy from the perspective of spin-offs and innovative spillovers, analyzing the agricultural increasing returns to scale neglected by Krugman, and exploring the micro mechanism of farmers’ enterprise-oriented evolution and the formation of agricultural clusters in underdeveloped rural areas. The research results are of profound referential significance for the cultivation of agricultural clusters in developing countries.

Keywords: spin-offs; innovation spillover; agricultural cluster; vegetable cluster in Shouguang City; Shandong Province; China (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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