Missing Elements of Knowledge Diffusion between Trade Fairs and Industrial Clusters Beyond Pipelines: Evidence from the Furniture Industry in Foshan, China

Abstract

This study illustrates neglected elements of knowledge transfer from trade fairs to industrial clusters. Based on a case study of the knowledge interactions between a trade fair and a furniture industrial cluster in China, the article presents several non-pipeline-based knowledge creation and diffusion mechanisms that have been downplayed in existing literature. Major findings of this article include that, first, trade fairs do not exist in isolation from each other; rather, they are hierarchically related with each other mainly by unidirectional knowledge flows. Trade fairs in different hierarchical levels have distinct market or technology positioning, meeting variegated knowledge needs of..