FORGING TRANS-LOCAL LINKAGES: BOUNDARY SPANNERS AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE JINGDEZHEN CERAMICS CLUSTER IN CHINA

Abstract

This thesis examines the role of the agency of a range of individual actors – conceptualized as ‘boundary spanners’ – in driving cluster evolution. Developing further the ‘boundary spanner’ concept from the management and organizational studies literature, this thesis uses as a case study the Jingdezhen ceramics industry cluster, and investigates how boundary spanners have helped it establish various kinds of trans-local and global linkages. These linkages, in turn, have led to the transformation of three aspects of the cluster – human capital, products and market – since the mid-2000s. This research identifies three key, inter-related, boundary-spanning mechanisms which have driven these cluster transformations: discursive construction, innovation promotion and market integration. This thesis contributes to the economic geography literature, first, by investigating the processes and mechanisms through which clusters’ trans-local linkages are established and mediated; second, by unpacking the importance of the agency of individual actors in ‘externalizing’ clusters and thereby driving cluster transformation.