From the perspective of division of labor, the formation of industrial clusters is the product of specialized division of labor. It is an economic spatial manifestation of people’s efforts to reduce transaction costs generated by specialized division of labor and obtain increasing returns generated by division of labor. Any industrial cluster shows obvious characteristics of division of labor and specialization. Moreover, the development of division of labor and specialization is highly consistent with industrial clusters. The development of industrial clusters is a system evolution process of gradual accumulation and self-enhancement. Its self-enhancement mechanism comes from the increasing returns generated by specialized division of labor. Specialized division of labor is an important force in the formation of industrial clusters. The socialized division of labor network formed by specialized division of labor incorporates personnel training, the establishment of sales networks, the reduction of transportation costs, the supply of raw materials, etc. into the specialized division of labor system. This high degree of specialization and socialization may form a regional incubator for new products and new technologies. The latest technologies at home and abroad will gather in this region, thus forming a virtuous cycle mechanism for the development and growth of enterprise clusters.
Due to the high degree of specialized division of labor, a large number of laborers are employed, which not only alleviates the local employment pressure, but also rapidly improves production efficiency. By deepening the professional division of labor and establishing close cooperative relations on the basis of the division of labor, the competitiveness of all enterprises can be improved to varying degrees, thereby enhancing the competitiveness of industrial clusters and promoting the development of regional economy. The core enterprises of the industry often have huge demands for specialized inputs such as raw materials, intermediate products and services. This demand is reflected in market signals (price increases) and can be captured by keen entrepreneurs, which will prompt enterprises in related industries to enter the region. There are economic reasons for this entry, because enterprises in affiliated industries and upstream and downstream industries entering the area where the core enterprises are located can first save transportation costs; secondly, because they are close to the core enterprises, they can obtain market information more quickly and accurately, which helps enterprises to quickly change their production according to market changes. In addition, this entry also reduces transaction costs and makes it easier to obtain professional talents, greatly increasing the possibility of successful transactions.
Specialized division of labor itself has the ability to reproduce itself: first, the inward development of the division of labor in various industries will provide conditions for the creation of new professions. The longer the value chain of the product, the greater the possibility of technical process decomposition, and the vertical division of labor may be lengthened, so that many enterprises can be attracted to gather together; second, the degree of division of labor will deepen with the improvement of technology. The increase in the degree of division of labor will in turn improve the technical efficiency within the profession. The mutual influence of the inward and outward development of the division of labor, and the mutual influence of efficiency and the degree of division of labor, constitute the characteristics of the self-reproduction of enterprises. While the division of labor within the cluster is deepening, the cooperation between clusters is also developing. This trend has gradually evolved into a pattern of regional division of labor. Due to the complementarity of products, different industrial clusters cooperate with each other, new market opportunities emerge in an endless stream, and new industrial clusters will continue to emerge. North pointed out that efficient economic organization is the key to economic growth. An enterprise organization network dominated by a few large enterprises and based on a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises, with a close division of labor and cooperation between large and small enterprises, is an efficient economic organization. Large enterprises can retain the largest and most core links in the value-added part of the value chain and outsource other links to small and medium-sized enterprises. In this way, the enterprise can not only minimize production costs and maximize economic benefits, but also control the production and suppliers of a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises, and form the greatest competitive advantage by obtaining clustering benefits; many small and medium-sized enterprises cooperate with large enterprises and focus on the production of a certain production link, which also helps to achieve the specialization of a certain production technology and improve the specificity of assets. It can also achieve economies of scale within the enterprise, share the clustering benefits outside the cluster, and strengthen competitive advantages.