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Chapter 6 Wichita's Aircraft Manufacturing Cluster, Knowledge Spillovers, and the Emergence of a Medical Device Manufacturing Cluster

Entrepreneurship and Global Competitiveness in Regional Economies: Determinants and Policy Implications

ISBN: 978-1-78052-394-1, eISBN: 978-1-78052-395-8

Publication date: 13 December 2011

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of the chapter is to sketch the historical and evolutionary development of the Wichita Aircraft Manufacturing Cluster from inception to present and provide a descriptive narrative of aircraft industry knowledge spillovers currently driving effort to establish a Medical Device Manufacturing Cluster. The chapter illustrates how carbon-fiber composite materials knowledge and technology developed for use in the aviation industry is facilitating the creation and growth of medical device manufacturing.

Methodology/approach – We use an historical case study approach to trace the development of the aircraft cluster in the Wichita, KS metropolitan area. A number of technologies are identified that had initially been adopted by one firm but eventually diffused through other firms in the local cluster and ultimately throughout the industry.

Findings – In addition to providing examples of within industry knowledge spillovers, we provide an example of technology-based knowledge that is diffusing through the aircraft manufacturing industry and is now being used as the basis for establishing an unrelated industry manufacturing cluster. The use of carbon-fiber composites in aircraft manufacturing has diffused from one manufacturer to many in the industry. Subsequently, the knowledge base surrounding carbon-fiber composite materials is being used in a local R&D effort to create a second manufacturing cluster producing medical devices ranging from surgical instruments to joint-replacement implants.

Originality/value of paper – The chapter illustrates a unique example of a manufacturing cluster, intra-industry knowledge spillovers, and inter-industry knowledge spillovers to create a new manufacturing cluster.

Keywords

Citation

Pett, T.L. and Wolff, J. (2011), "Chapter 6 Wichita's Aircraft Manufacturing Cluster, Knowledge Spillovers, and the Emergence of a Medical Device Manufacturing Cluster", Libecap, G.D. and Hoskinson, S. (Ed.) Entrepreneurship and Global Competitiveness in Regional Economies: Determinants and Policy Implications (Advances in the Study of Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Economic Growth, Vol. 22), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 141-159. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1048-4736(2011)0000022009

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2011, Emerald Group Publishing Limited