The Competitive Advantage of Regional Clusters An Organizational–Evolutionary Perspective外文翻译.doc

外文题目： The Competitive Advantage of Regional Clusters: An Organizational–Evolutionary Perspective 出 处： COMPETITION CHANGE 作 者： UDO STABER 原 文： Research on the competitiveness of regional clusters of firms in the same and related industries has been dominated by a profoundly optimistic view, concerned far more about the integrative possibilities of dense social networks than the dysfunctional consequences of such networks. I argue that this approach, which draws selectively on the transaction cost, knowledge-based and institutionalist perspectives, is one-sided in its fundamental premises, focusing on the presumed benefits of network homogeneity and coherence. It has led researchers to pay insufficient attention to the role of variations and imperfections in copying routines and competencies as a basis of cluster competitiveness. The evolutionary perspective calls into question the common view that competitive cluster network structures develop towards coherence and homogeneity. It views the cluster as a multilevel organizational system whose development is strongly influenced by variation generating processes at the micro-level. I discuss these processes, with special reference to competitive advantage, and outline some of the challenges they imply for empirical research. KEY WORDS Competitive advantage, Evolutionary perspective, Organizational integration, Social networks Introduction With the transformation from an economy based on material production to an economy based on knowledge, research in organization theory and strategic management on competitive advantage has been extended from firm-based approaches focusing on intrafirm capabilities to perspectives which see distinct advantages in the firm抯 embeddedness in interorganizational networks and the way these are managed. In many industries, interorganizational networks are geographically concentrated