35
conditions and cannot be equally fomented elsewhere. This is especially so in the wine
sector where there is such ‘place-based techno-scientific’ activity.
So what are the factors in clusters and the innovation that occurs within them? Some
within the clusterization literature (see examples in Giuliani, 2006) argue that
geographical proximity is the key to firm successes in clusters. However, there are now
many that say that physical proximity is not a sufficient reason to explain upgrading
(Gibbon, 2001, Olavarria et al, 2008). Instead there has been a recent emphasis in
literature of the importance of firms. Giuliani (2006: 143) says that firms should be
considered as the central factor in clusters as their “meso-level conditions connect to the
formation of innovation”.
Giuliani goes on to hypothesise that firms with stronger knowledge basis will be the firms
most central to the clusters (see later for verification of this hypothesis). The knowledge
base of a firm, she argues, can be judged by individual education and practice of actors in
a firm, experimentation in the company and linkages with firms outside of a cluster -
Giuliani (2006) and Olavarria et al (2008). These knowledge bases shape the knowledge
network that occurs in a cluster.
Using Colchagua as the example, Olavarria et al (2008) show that of the permanent
workers working for vineyards in this valley 3 per cent have post graduate degrees, 10
per cent have superior education and the majority of workers (45 per cent) only have
basic education (the equivalent of leaving school at 14 years). Even though this is higher
than the knowledge of temporary workers, where 65 per cent have only basic education,