Local knowledge domains and the role of MNE affiliates in bridging and complementing a cluster's knowledge

José-Luis Hervás-Oliver and José Albors-Garrigós

Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 2008, vol. 20, issue 6, 581-598

Abstract: Multinational enterprises (MNEs) can play the role of extracting, diffusing and bringing knowledge through external linkages. The classical literature of industrial districts has not focused on these external ties, although occasionally they have been mentioned when trying to avoid lock-in and entropic inertia. This work focuses on this gap and examines the process of knowledge exchange between clusters through MNE affiliates which operate in all of them. Empirical work is conducted with interviews to clustered indigenous firms with affiliates operating in other clusters and affiliates belonging to MNEs which are independent of other clusters, all of them in the ceramic tile industry. The results show that the knowledge created in the collective learning process is local-scaled and is created from interaction between local SMEs and indigenous and foreign MNEs. The knowledge created in other clusters is introduced through foreign MNE affiliates complementing the local one. The results, interpreted within and limited to this context, can also provide insight into policy-making. Within global industries, polycentric networks from different clusters are open entities formed by local SMEs and connected and linked with foreign and indigenous MNE affiliates which sustain the channels that allow knowledge to be transferred from a local to a global scale.

Date: 2008
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/08985620802462231 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:entreg:v:20:y:2008:i:6:p:581-598

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/TEPN20

DOI: 10.1080/08985620802462231

Access Statistics for this article

Entrepreneurship & Regional Development is currently edited by Professor Alistair Anderson

More articles in Entrepreneurship & Regional Development from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().