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| THE MECHANISM FOR SOCIAL CAPITAL INFLUENCE ON THE GROWTH OF REGIONAL ECONOMY: AN ANALYSIS BASED ON “NETWORKING MODEL” |
| YANG Peng-peng1,2, YUAN Zhiping1, WANG Neng-min1 |
1. School of Management, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, China;
2. School of Business, Xi'an International Studies University, Xi'an 710128, China |
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Abstract The study of regional economic growth is a subject of significance for promoting regional development and bridging inter-regional gap. Apart from the traditional factors social capital emerges as another important factor which promotes the regional economic growth.Beginning with an analysis of the concept and the fundamental theories of social capital this paper focuses on impacts of social capital on regional economic growth. It holds that social capital primarily influences regional economic growth through its influences on three parties within the region, namely, businesses, industrial clusters and the entire region. social capital plays a different but very important roles whth these three parties.
The regional network takes businesses, industrial clusters and other organizations within it as its nodes. Given the current situation that the businesses are moving from traditional to networking in growth pattern, the industrial cluster from cluster economy to innovation network, and region from traditional spatial structure to network society, social capital or social relationship network is decisive in these transformations. Its influence on these three parties is spatially progressing.
Based on the above understanding, this paper proposes the "networking model" for the progression among the three parties, During the course of the first-stage networking, one or more core enterprises have achieved network structural resources and network information, which make up for their deficiency. The enterprises then develop much more rapidly.
As a result, the industrial clusters come into being. The second-stage networking mainly takes place between different organic units within the clusters focusing on the leading industries. It spreads in the form of grids. The mechanism of mutual trust and reciprocity is established within the network members and the cost is reduced. Knowledge accumulation and innovation effect are evidently increased. The development of cluster demands the coordination from the government through administrative power so as to collocate resources and seek for market in a larger scale. Therefore, the third-stage networking is even larger in scale and its organic units are more diversified. In this way, a multidimensional regional network is formulated.
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Received: 06 May 2008
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2008, Vol. 23 
