3 .4
Locational Characteristics of Knowledge-based Industry and Policies for the Local Economic Development
지식기반산업의 입지특성과 지역경제활성화 방안 연구(RR 2002-18) Young-Sub Kwon and Dong-Ju Kim
December 2002․281 pages․Korean
This study aims to examine locational characteristics of knowledge-based industry and to provide policy directions for the local and regional economic development in Korea.
Knowledge-based industry and its clusters now play a critical role as a source of innovation and growth. In order to strengthen the competitiveness of knowledge-based industry and regional economies, innovative regional clusters and regional innovation systems are to be boosted at the national and regional levels in most advanced countries.
The study is organized as follows: Chapter 2 reviews relevant theories on regional clusters and regional innovation system. The chapter then develops a definitive framework to evaluate the locational, industrial and institutional characteristics in regional economies. Chapter 3 identifies the spatial and locational characteristics of the knowledge-based industry in Korea and examines the regional milieu by analyzing regional opinion survey. Chapter 4 contains the analysis of regional industrial structure and characteristics on selected Cheonan and Changwon regional economies through in-depth case studies. Chapter 5 provides policy implications and agendas to set up knowledge-based industry in Korea. The study ends with some concluding remarks.
Prior to the specific analysis of case studies, the industrial agglomerations of the knowledge-based industry are identified and mapped by location and type of industry.
It is identified that most industrial agglomerations in Korea are located in the major cities along the Gyeongbu and Honam development axis. The Delphi survey suggests that there are various characteristics according to industrial clusters and the environments of the regions are also different.
Next, the locational and industrial characteristics of selected regional clusters in Korea are evaluated through survey and in-depth case studies. For the case studies, the following two regional industrial agglomerations are selected by industrial type and developmental type, such as knowledge-based industry and resources-based industry in Cheonan and Changwon. In-depth interviews are especially conducted to related firms.
The interviews were completed by 61 firms in Cheonan City, and 63 firms in Changwon City.
The survey and in-depth interviews cover three main themes: First, production systems, research and development systems, and business support system for measuring the relations of inter-firms, firms and institutions including the universities, research institutes and financial institutions, etc. Second, regional industrial structure and characteristics. Third, the effects on regional economic development.
Major findings of the survey and in-depth interviews are summarized as follows:
Cheonan City specialized in knowledge-based industry exogenously has a high growth by location of large firms with high tech in 1990s. However, the history of knowledge-based industrial cluster is short and the size of clusters is yet small and roles of supporting agencies which have functions of researches and technological innovation are relatively weak. In case of Changwon City, the knowledge-based industrial cluster is endogenously developed from resource based industry, composing of the number of start-ups of new business previously belonging to mechanical engineering.
In summing-up based upon the results of in-depth empirical studies, regional industrial agglomerations and clusters can be evaluated as follows: In the Cheonan resource-based industrial agglomeration, localization and networking are very weak, the core competence is located out of the region. In the Cheonan knowledge-based industrial cluster, geographical proximity among knowledge-based firms and institutions and the linkages are much stronger than the Cheonan resource-based industrial agglomeration, while its core competence is also located out of the region.
The Changwon resource-based industrial cluster is evaluated that its core competence is located in the region, while the localization and networking are relatively weak. It is partly because the major industrial characteristics of the region are specialized in mass
production system. Finally, in the Changwon knowledge-based industrial cluster geographical proximity among knowledge-based firms and institutions and the linkages are much stronger and its core engine is located in the region, but the history of the knowledge-based industrial development is relatively short.
Based upon the case studies on selected four regional industrial clusters in Korea, the following policy implications can be derived: first, it is important to foster the knowledge-based industry and its clusters for the enhancement of industrial and regional competitiveness. For this purpose, the examination of potential industry clusters and mapping works are to be made through the nation and the regions. Second, networking and linkages among relevant firms and supporting institutions are to be reinforced for boosting knowledge-based industrial clusters.
Third, technological, industrial and regional policies are required to be closely linked and to be focused on the industrial, locational and institutional characteristics of the regions. To this end, the patterns of possible regional industrial clusters are to be examined, illustrated and mapped. Fourth, local innovation milieu is to be improved from the resource-based system with the support of the physical infrastructure to the knowledge-based system with the support of the social and institutional infrastructures.
Fifth, legal and institutional support system, which can be linked among production system, R & D system and producer service system, are to be established. Finally, the studies on the cluster and regional innovation system are to be continued for strengthening industrial and regional competitiveness and promoting local economic development in Korea.
