The division of labor and specialization in industrial clusters is manifested in the inherent necessity and possibility of the division of labor network among enterprises:
First, the development trend of modern industry is the deepening of specialization and division of labor. A single enterprise can only choose one link in the industrial chain for production, and the enterprise itself has become a highly specialized individual. This determines that no matter where an enterprise engages in production activities, it must cooperate with other enterprises. The difference in form is only manifested in the different degrees of cooperation.
Second, cooperation between enterprises in industrial clusters is easier to achieve, especially in some industrial clusters with a long history of development, that is, the geographical proximity of enterprises within the industrial cluster makes the relationship between them closer. Different enterprises are committed to the development of the same industry. Due to their strong correlation, the potential rules and information exchange in the industrial cluster area will make the way of cooperation simpler.
Third, enterprises within the industrial cluster need to cooperate with multiple enterprises to form a cooperation network. Within the industrial cluster area, a single enterprise generally only engages in the production and research and development of a certain industrial link, so it must cooperate with other upstream and downstream enterprises. Therefore, the division of labor in industrial clusters is not the division of labor of a single enterprise, nor is it the division of labor and cooperation between two enterprises, but a division of labor and cooperation network composed of multiple enterprises.
From a dynamic perspective, industrial clusters can promote the evolution of division of labor. Industrial clusters have the characteristics of specialization of division of labor. The reason why they can promote the evolution of division of labor is that industrial clusters have the following three functions:
First, reduce transaction costs. Generally speaking, enterprises and various production factors tend to choose industrial cluster areas. Since industrial clusters realize resource sharing, rapid diffusion of knowledge and mutual demand on the value chain, the search costs of enterprises are reduced and transaction costs are reduced. This enables a large number of transactions to be completed locally, improving transaction efficiency. The improvement of transaction efficiency will further promote the division of labor and development of industrial agglomeration.
Second, promote the development of specialization of division of labor by accelerating innovation. Industrial clusters usually have a good development environment, which can promote the diffusion of advanced experience and technical knowledge generated by division of labor to the surrounding areas. At the same time, the close interaction between enterprises within the industrial cluster can transmit valuable tacit knowledge on the basis of mutual trust, and promote the generation of various innovations and the continuous deepening of division of labor through the collision, agitation and frequent feedback of ideas, experience and information within the industrial cluster network.
Third, provide an environment conducive to the development of division of labor and specialization. Clusters are not only a production division of labor model, but also a good industrial environment. In the industrial cluster network, the increasing benefits generated by the division of labor will bring about an increase in corporate income and government fiscal revenue. The former can improve the micro-environment of enterprises and increase R&D investment; the latter can improve the overall transaction efficiency of industrial clusters by improving public infrastructure construction. By providing a series of resource networks, management support, entrepreneurial service environment, etc. that are conducive to the development of enterprises, industrial clusters can enable individual enterprises to accumulate experience in a short period of time that would take several times longer to accumulate in a non-specialized state, creating a significant dynamic effect of practice makes perfect, and thus can also accelerate the sustainable development of division of labor by promoting individual specialization.
From the perspective of evolutionary characteristics, industrial clusters often show dynamics and plasticity from low to high and from simple to complex, that is, they are always in constant development and change. An industrial cluster is a quasi-market organization between a market and a pure bureaucratic organization. It is less stable than a market and an enterprise, and has a strong possibility of conversion. Although industrial clusters are conducive to improving transaction efficiency and reducing transaction costs, thereby bringing increasing returns, this does not mean that the larger the cluster, the better. Under normal circumstances, there is a boundary problem in cluster expansion. The deepening of division of labor will not proceed indefinitely. In industrial clusters, as the scale of industrial clusters expands, factors that restrict the development of division of labor will gradually emerge. For example, fierce competition among enterprises, rising production costs, etc. Therefore, theoretically, it can be considered that the moment when the evolution of division of labor in an industrial cluster stops is the optimal boundary of the development of the industrial cluster. The evolution of division of labor and the development of industrial clusters have a common boundary. When the evolution of the division of labor within an industrial cluster leads to equal changes in marginal contribution to the industrial cluster and transaction costs, the division of labor in the industrial cluster will reach the optimal level.