Spatial Knowledge Strategies: An Analysis of International Investments Using Fuzzy Set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA)

IF 7.2 1区经济学 Q1 ECONOMICS

Economic Geography Pub Date : 2021-08-08 DOI:10.1080/00130095.2021.1941858

Pengfei Li, H. Bathelt

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引用次数: 3

Abstract

abstract Knowledge generation is often viewed as a direct outcome of spatial proximity or other social affinities between firms. In rejecting structural interpretations, this article emphasizes the crucial role of agency in orchestrating knowledge transfer and generation over space. We explore how firms strategically leverage the uneven geography of knowledge in international investments and identify four spatial knowledge strategies according to the direction of knowledge flows and mode of connection: knowledge replicating, scouting, connecting, and integrating. Drawing from a relational perspective, we develop four propositions to investigate how these strategies are configured in specific spatial settings. It is argued that replicating and scouting strategies occur from clusters to nonclusters and from nonclusters to clusters, respectively, while connecting and integrating strategies take place in cluster-to-cluster contexts. Adopting fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA), an investigation of forty-nine headquarters-subsidiary linkages between Canada and China substantiates the four knowledge strategies and their spatial configurations, and shows how spatial structure and agency are fundamentally intertwined and influence each other.

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空间知识策略:基于模糊集定性比较分析的国际投资分析

知识的产生通常被视为企业之间空间接近或其他社会亲和力的直接结果。在拒绝结构性解释的同时，本文强调了机构在协调空间知识转移和生成方面的关键作用。本文探讨了企业如何在国际投资中战略性地利用知识的不均匀地理分布，并根据知识流动方向和联系方式确定了四种空间知识战略:知识复制、知识侦察、知识连接和知识整合。从关系的角度出发，我们提出了四个命题来研究这些策略如何在特定的空间环境中配置。研究认为，复制和侦察策略分别发生在集群到非集群和从非集群到集群之间，而连接和整合策略发生在集群到集群的环境中。采用模糊集定性比较分析(fsQCA)，对加拿大和中国之间的49个总部-子公司联系进行了调查，证实了四种知识策略及其空间配置，并显示了空间结构和代理如何从根本上交织在一起并相互影响。

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来源期刊

Economic Geography Multiple-

CiteScore

9.70

自引率

2.90%

发文量

期刊介绍： Economic Geography is a peer-reviewed journal dedicated to publishing original research that advances the field of economic geography. Their goal is to publish high-quality studies that are both theoretically robust and grounded in empirical evidence, contributing to our understanding of the geographic factors and consequences of economic processes. It welcome submissions on a wide range of topics that provide primary evidence for significant theoretical interventions, offering key insights into important economic, social, development, and environmental issues. To ensure the highest quality publications, all submissions undergo a rigorous peer-review process with at least three external referees and an editor. Economic Geography has been owned by Clark University since 1925 and plays a central role in supporting the global activities of the field, providing publications and other forms of scholarly support. The journal is published five times a year in January, March, June, August, and November.