The relationship between innovative capacity and network position: Eskişehir-Bilecik-Kütahya ceramics cluster

The clusters, which are business systems created by firms concentrating on a specific geographical area, have attracted the attention of researchers from different fields since 1990's. This study aims to analyze the structure, development and dimensions of the Eskişehir-Bilecik-Kütahya (EBK) Ceramic Cluster, which produces about 50% of the production of ceramic products in Turkey, and to analyze the relationships between network positions and innovation performances of firms. In this context, interviews were conducted with 56 companies/institutions in the cluster. The social network analysis was used to generate network maps demonstrating the commercial and informal relationships of the actors in the cluster and the relationship between innovation performance of the firms and their positions on the network was estimated with the Heckman Selection Model. The findings of the study show that the firms in the EBK Ceramic Cluster have access to the basic activities in the value chain within the cluster and that the network of informal relations has a small number of actors and connections. In addition, degree centrality, which represents the number of connections the firms have, and the closeness centrality, which represents how quickly the firms reach the other actors on the network, increase the innovation performance of firms.