Imitation without Interaction: How Firms Identify with Clusters
研究了企业管理者如何通过模仿（基于频率和基于特征）来形成对所在产业集群的认同，发现即使缺乏合作性社会互动，认同也能维持。
Although shared identity occupies a central place in theorizing about regional business clusters, there has been little research on the processes by which identity is constructed. In particular, little is known about the role of imitation and its relationship to social interaction in managers’ identification with the cluster in which the firm is located. Drawing on economic and socio-economic approaches, I develop hypotheses concerning the effect of frequency-based and trait-based imitation on the strength of identification with the cluster. Using data on 146 small business owners in five mature textile clusters in south-west Germany, I find that both imitation modes strengthen identification, though to varying degrees. Contrary to much research on clusters, the regression results indicate that identification can be sustained even in the absence of cooperative social interaction.