“…In addition, there has been a strong focus on strengthening external cluster linkages, and there is a consensus that external links are crucial for cluster evolution and growth. To be innovative, strong clusters are dependent on factors such as new knowledge and networks to avoid lock-in and decline (Bathelt et al, 2004;Breschi & Malerba, 2001;Nadvi & Halder, 2005), and it has been widely acknowledged that such ties need to be balanced between the local and the global (Bathelt et al, 2004;Birkinshaw & Hood, 2000;De Martino, Reid, & Zygliodopoulos, 2006;Fornahl & Tran, 2010;Giblin, 2011;Humphrey & Schmitz, 2002;Kramer & Diez, 2011;Larsson & Malmberg, 1999;Montagnana, 2010;Owen-Smith & Powell, 2004;Perkmann, 2006;Phelps, Mackinnon, Stone, & Braidford, 2003;Raines, Turok, & Brown, 2001;Rosenfeld, 1997;Turok, 1993;White, 2004;Zucchella, 2006). Accordingly, the interplay between spatial levels has been of interest to geographers since the introduction of Porter's cluster concept (Humphrey & Schmitz, 2002;Malmberg & Power, 2006;Martin & Sunley, 2003), famously conceptualized as local buzz and global pipelines (Bathelt et al, 2004).…”