产业集群与农村劳动力市场外文翻译 毕业论文外文翻译Industry Clusters and Rural Labor Markets Abstract:Along with the recent resurgence of interest in the agglomeration and clustering of economic activity, there has been increasing interest in industry clusters as a potential economic development strategy. Ultimately, the question of whether or not clusters are an appropriate focus of economic development strategies for rural areas depends on the relationship between clusters and local economic growth. The primary purpose of this paper is to discuss some of the issues involved in measuring the relationship between clusters and rural economic growth. Preliminary evidence of a positive association between industry clusters and rural earnings growth are presented, supporting the notion that a cluster-focused development strategy may be effective in some rural areas Along with the recent resurgence of interest in the agglomeration and clustering of economic activity, there has been increasing interest in industry clusters as a potential economic development strategy. This interest is motivated by two general trends. First, recent research suggests that the rapid pace of technological change has altered the economic environment in ways that give establishments located in clusters a competitive advantage over establishments located in relative isolation Malecki 1991:252; Stohr 1986:29; and Porter 1995:58.To the extent that this is true, rural establishments, which are by definition in relatively isolated locations, will increasingly be at a competitive disadvantage vis-a-vis establishments in urban areas. The views expressed in this paper are solely the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of either the Bureau of Economic Analysis or the U.S. Department of Commerce. The author gratefully acknowledges helpful comments of two anonymous reviewers. Industry Clusters and Labor Markets - Bernat There is increasing dissatisfaction with what might be called the traditional economic development strategy of industrial recruitment or smokestack-chasing- the use of tax rebates, infrastructure development, special training programs, and other inducements to attract firms to an area - as an economic development strategy. This strategy is now viewed by many economic development specialists as a strategy with not only a relatively high probability of failure but also one with a relatively low net return even when successful because competition with other localities tends to raise the cost of incentives that must be offered to successfully attract a new plant or business Sears and Bernat 1998:12 and Isserman 1994. In addition, plants that are susceptible to locational incentives may well relocate to yet lower-cost places in the future A strategy of encouraging clusters, in contrast, is perceived to be both more likely to produce positive results and to be more cost-effective than smokestack chasing because the external economies associated with clusters provide built-in incentives for the firms and establishments that are part of the cluster to remain in the area. In addition, these same external economies will help attract additional firms and establishments. The reasoning or hope goes, once a cluster is established, it will maintain itself rather than depend on government assistance to retain its viability. Ultimately, the question of whether or not clusters are an appropriate focus of economic development strategies for rural areas depends on the relationship between clusters and local economic growth. The purpose of this paper is to discuss some of the issues involved in measuring the relationship between clusters and local economic growth. No attempt is made to provide definitive answers to any of these questionsInstead, the goal is the more modest one of identifying the key issues involving clusters and rural growth and to present some preliminary findings on the association between industry clusters and earnings growth As pointed out by one reviewer, clustering can also be part of an industrial recruitment strategy, where firms are recruited based on an assessment of how well they fit with existing clusters. However, the extent to which clusters contribute to the success of this type of industrial recruitment will be a function of the issues discussed in this paper. The next section is a brief review of the literature on clusters and their role in regional economic growth. The following section discusses how clustering might benefit rural labor markets and summarizes some of the available empirical evidence. The final section concludes the paper with some thoughts on further work. What are Clusters and Why do They Exist? The terms cluster and clustering appear in a wide range of contexts in the regional economics and geography literature. Sometimes, especially in the urban growth literature, the terms are used synonymously with the more general term agglomeratio