3 .4
Innovative Clusters and Regional Economic Development : International Perspectives
지역경제활성화를 위한 혁신 클러스터 육성방안 : 국내외 사례와 정책방향
Dong-Ju Kim, Joong-Hae Suh, Young-Sub Kwon, and Seh-Il Byeon February 2003․294 pages․English
Historical economic paradigm shifts such as the agricultural, industrial, and information revolutions were rooted in innovative technological developments. The current Information Technology Age arose from the information and communication technologies that began in earnest with the development of the Information Superhighway in the later half of the 20th century. Countries and regions that actively embrace this phenomenon have advanced, while those that doesn't have seen their competitiveness impaired.
The R&D activities of universities and research centers play an important role in competitiveness through basic research, while industry creates value through commercialization, and together they create an innovative environment that includes intimate cooperative functions and appropriate support structures. Developed countries, having supported this innovative environment with industrial parks, entrepreneurial districts, and technology parks, which require massive investment and a long-term commitment, are drawing on this experience in implementing progressive industrial clustering policies aimed at eliminating market imperfections.
In Korea, lively research into this area is underway, as are efforts to strengthen technological and industrial development structures and regional industrial competitiveness.
However, it is still in the early stages of establishing a conceptual framework and implementing organized, effective policy.
Toward this end, the Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements (KRIHS) and the Korea Development Institute (KDI) co-sponsored an international workshop for foreign and domestic experts to analyze industrial cluster policies and examples, benchmark
them, and create development proposals. This 2-day workshop, "Innovative Clusters and Regional Economic Development: International Perspectives," was held on February 13th and 14th, 2003, at the KRIHS building, Anyang, Korea.
This report covers the 12 papers presented at the workshop, and is divided into a detailed introduction and a main section consisting of 5 parts. In the section below, the research of each author, as well as the main points of each research paper, is briefly covered.
In Part 1, the cluster-based policies in Korea and oversea countries are analyzed.
Chapter 1, "Innovative Clusters and Regional Economic Development: The OECD Experience" by Dr. Jean Guinet analyzes the experience of the OECD in such areas as prerequisites, policy examples, and policy trends for innovative cluster support and the emergence of new support paradigms.
Chapter 2, "Industrial Clusters and Enterprise-Support Services in Korea: Spatial Patterns and Policy Issues" by Dr. Sun-Bae Kim and Dr. Jun-Ho Jeong analyzes Korean industrial concentrations, enterprise-support service companies' spatial distribution patterns, and technology cooperative networks.
In Chapter 3, "The Emergence of Innovation Networks and Clusters, and their Policy Implications" by Dr. Joong-Hae Suh, the author argues that the policy directed at improving the competitiveness of network linkages should also be implemented while the competitiveness of major participants is important in strengthening technology cooperative networks to increase their ability to adjust to change.
In Part 2 through 5, the focus is on comparative analysis of domestic cluster cases.
Part 2 analyzes ICT (Information and Communication Technology) and electronics clusters, and is divided into three papers: one on Daedeok Valley, Korea's primary ICT and software industrial cluster; another on Gumi, Korea's electronics production Mecca;
and as the benchmark for these two regions, the last focuses on Taiwan's Hsinchu.
Chapter 4, "IT Cluster Evolved From Research Park: Taeduk Valley in Korea" by Dr.
Joo-Seong Hwang tracks the development of the Taeduk Valley ICT industry, from the
founding of the Taeduk Science Town in 1973, to its growth primarily driven by research centers and small and medium venture companies.
Chapter 5, "Structure and Innovation of the Gumi Electronics Cluster in Korea" by Dr.
Dongju Kim describes the growth of the Gumi electronics industry from its origins in the inception of the Gumi National Industrial Complex in 1968. In this cluster, large conglomerates have been the engines of growth, and the quality of their linkages with small and medium-sized subcontractors is the core of their competitiveness.
Chapter 6, "Taiwan Hsinchu ICT Cluster and Local Economic Development" by Dr.
Wen-Chen Wang introduces the Taiwanese Hsinchu ICT industry, begun with the establishment of a Science Park in 1980, which has evolved into an innovative cluster, and is one of the examples of successful regional industry. During this period, the cluster achieved international competitiveness through specialized manufacturing, OEM production, and plentiful labor.
Part 3 includes 2 papers related to the life sciences and the pharmaceutical industry.
One looks at the concentration, and production and R&D activities, of the biotechnology industry located in the southern Gyeonggi Province, Korea. The other analyzes the industrial activities, status, and innovation structures and characteristics of the life sciences industry cluster in Vancouver, Canada.
In Chapter 7, "Agglomeration to Innovative Cluster: The Case of Pharmaceutical Companies and Biotechnology Companies in Gyeonggi Province" by Dr. Jeong-Hyup Lee.
The author explains how the southern Gyeonggi Province pharmaceutical industry grew from institutions such as the Hyangnam Pharmaceutical Science Town and nearby universities to develop major R&D cooperation between pharmaceutical and bio-venture companies with the potential of becoming a biotech cluster.
Chapter 8, "Local and Regional Industrial Clusters in Canada: The Biotechnology Cluster in Vancouver" by Dr. Adam Holbrook, covers the Vancouver biotech industry, founded in the mid-1980s by universities and research centers with the intellectual property rights derived from their R&D activities, which has evolved into a knowledge-based service cluster distinct from production-based clusters.
Part 4 presents 2 papers covering textile industry; the Korean Daegu and Third Italy.
Although there are still many traditional industry elements in the Daegu cluster, because of their relative importance in the national, not to mention regional, economy, various large-scale national projects such as the Milano Project are currently underway to further stimulate their growth. Part 4 compares these efforts with the Italian cluster, and at the same time analyzes innovation structures and industrial organization in designated industrial zones in order to search for proposals that would improve on weaknesses and strengthen competitiveness.
Chapter 9, "Innovative Behavior and Innovative Process in the Daegu Textile Industry"
by Dr. Young-Sub Kwon, discusses the Daegu textile industry, which began with the agglomeration of small and medium-size textile factories in the 1960's, and by moving into higher value-added production is evolving into an innovative cluster.
In Chapter 10, "European Policy for Cluster in the Third Italy" by Dr. Valeria Aniello, the author explains that although Italy's small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and industrial zones are strongly competitive in both employment and exports, there exists a development gap between the central and northern regions, and the south; and while clusters have developed in the former, the latter is receiving European policy aid as an underdeveloped zone.
In Part 5, the focus is on the machinery industry clusters of the Korean Changwon and German Baden-Wrttembergs.
Chapter 11, "A Study on Changwon Machine Industry Cluster" by Dr. Chai-Sung Lim, covers the Changwon machine industry, which began as an agglomeration of large enterprises engaged in assembly metals production for the defense industry in 1974, and has developed into a cluster involved in such industries as automobiles and precision instruments.
Chapter 12, "The Rise of the New or Restructuring of the Old Baden-Wuerrtembergs Economy from Crisis to New Glory?" by Dr. Gerhard Fuchs, explains how Baden-Wuerrtembergs, whose past development was led by the Stuttgart machine industry, in the 1990s saw the rise of new industries such as multimedia and
biotechnology, which created a dual industry structure.
Although this workshop may be regarded by some as international comparative case research of a somewhat limited scope, the accumulated research and knowledge of the participants who engaged in sequenced meetings and sincere discussions will greatly aid the process of deciding policy directions and conducting further research into industry groupings. We hope that this research will serve as fertile ground for establishing an international standard for cluster analysis and evaluation.
