The Trees of the Forest: Uncovering Small-Scale Producers in an Industrial District, 1781–1851
利用贸易名录和《伦敦公报》重建1781–1851年波特里工业区的企业级数据，涵盖大企业和缺乏记录的小企业，揭示隐性知识驱动的合作竞争模式，为早期产业集群研究提供实证基础。
This article uses trade directories and notifications in the London Gazette to reconstruct the Potteries industrial district at the firm level for 1781 to 1851, a dynamic period of growth for a knowledge-intensive industry. It cuts across the organizational spectrum of the district in terms of the scale and scope of firms traditionally examined by including both the larger lead-firms and the smaller firms for which limited or no business records survive. It addresses difficulties associated with analysis of early clusters before the late nineteenth century. Directories offer a consistent series of records that, when cross-referenced with the Gazette and local newspapers, allow for detailed examination of firm behavior and the structure of the district during a formative growth period. Analysis highlights patterns of cooperative competition in an industry in which tacit knowledge played a crucial role as a source of competitive advantage, raises questions for future research, and provides an empirical base on which to consider further investigation of the trees that made up the forest.