Network Structure of Industrial Clusters : An Examination of the Electrical Equipment Cluster in China

What is missing in the literature on industrial clusters is the quantitative and empirical statement of the network structure of industrial cluster. In order to further the research of the structure of cooperative and coordinated relations among all kinds of organizations in cluster, the paper presents a research design which employs some quantitative measures and mapping tools from the theory of social network analysis. Using the cluster of electrical equipment and component manufacturing cluster in Liu Shi town, Yue Qing city in Zhe Jiang province in China as a practical example, the paper maps and measures the network structure of this cluster and discusses the disequilibrium and variability are important structure properties of interfirm networks. The research also presents the interaction and integration of social network and economic network in the typical Chinese industrial clusters