Francesca Mariotti
Assistant Professor, King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia.
Sajjad Haider
Assistant Professor, King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia.Inter-Cluster Learning: The Co-Evolution of Nascar
Racing and the UK Motorsport Industry
The past decade has witnessed a revived interest in the analysis of
clusters from a variety of perspectives ranging from economic
geography, regional economics, industrial economics, sociology and
organizational theory (e.g. Storper, 1992; Powell, 1990; 1996; Porter,
1998; Amin, 2000). While these perspectives differ in terms of the
arguments put forward, they all seem to agree that clusters are
characterized by geographic concentrations of interconnected
companies, where proximity ensures certain forms of commonality and
increases the frequency and impact of interactions. Some recent studies
have begun to emphasize the social dimension of cluster formation and
the importance of local social networks for the production and flow of
information and knowledge within clusters (Cohen and Fields, 1999;
Pinch and Henry, 1999; Breschi and Lissoni, 1999). According to this
line of research, learning though networking is the crucial force pulling
firms together into clusters. The ways firms learn in a cluster involve
formal and informal collaborations, inter-firm mobility of skilled
workers, spin-off of new firms from existing firms, links with
universities and research centres. By continuously interacting and
sharing knowledge with other actors, firms become embedded in a
thick network of local relationships based on trust, norms of interaction
and informal collaboration.
Undoubtedly this literature has contributed to our understanding
of why firms cluster together and the benefits associated to such
clustering activity, albeit too much importance is placed on 'proximity'
and analyses are often conducted in a cross-sectional and static manner.
Moreover, there is a strong tendency to abstract clusters from the rest of
the economic landscape and to ignore interdependencies of firms
outside clusters. In other words, research to date has paid scant
attention to the co-evolution of clusters and the changing nature of the
linkages which underpin them. The aim of this paper is to explore these
issues in detail and to provide some insights into the processes and
mechanisms through which inter-cluster connections develop and co-
evolve over time. The chosen empirical settings are the NASCAR
cluster and the UK motorsport industry.
The long history of the NASCAR cluster and the changing nature of
the linkages supporting it, constitute a unique opportunity to explore