Local Clustering: a Case Study on PC-related Manufacturing in Dongguan
东莞PC相关制造业地方产业群的发展演变

Through a case study on PC-related manufacturing in Dongguan, this paper examines the transformation of global-local ties in the development of local clusters in the context of Pearl River Delta, a foreign investment driven industrialized area in China. Following a brief theoretical review on the industrial cluster and the dynamics of global PC market environment, the changing structure of local PC production network is analyzed. The development of the local PC production network is divided into two stages: first, from the late 1980s to the early 1990s, export oriented manufacturing plants with strong global linkages but weak local linkages were established under the export processing regulations; second, from the middle 1990s till now, the local electronics intermediates production network kept growing with the Taiwan PC makers flood-in. The changing structure of local industrial linkages is intervened with the dynamics of social relations between different agents, which leads to the challenges of institutional innovation in the development of local clusters. Then, we analyze the congestion of custom, a prevalent problem faced by most local PC makers at present, and the ongoing bargain on regulations between overseas investors and local policy-makers. We argue that this institutional bottleneck of local production network is among the results of the structural changing, and cannot be solved only by readjustment at operational level. The forthcoming entrance WTO is a step towards improvement. However, the establishment of local common sense on new market rules among investors, local officials and labors is still a long way to go.