臺灣中草藥產業之空間發展歷程:一個生產鏈的觀點

Abstract

本研究透過生產鏈的觀點，從臺灣中草藥產業的空間發展歷程來理解該產業現今跨界布局的意義與內涵。並進一步分析該產業的社會文化面向，以說明廠商、業界公會、政府部門以及研究單位間透過哪些機制交織成今日互動頻繁的關係網絡。 臺灣中草藥產業目前少有協作、外包等廠商間的協力現象，這使得生產鏈結的形式多為上、下游的串接，空間上多分布於都會區外圍，並無明顯聚集於一地的現象。然而，由於廠商以臺灣市場為主，自身的生產網絡又與其發跡所在地黏著，短期內並未規劃將後段加工之生產線移出臺灣。 此外，由於今日臺灣中草藥產業的交易關係仍有很大的部分是建立在信任、商譽等非貿易互依上，員工幾乎都是長期任用，這讓專業知識的流通較難透過技術社群的移動彼此學習。因此，業界公會與政府部門在知識的傳遞與學習上扮演轉介與誘發的重要角色，活絡化廠商間的社會關係網絡，近年來臺灣中草藥產業之產品研發方向趨向多元，其學習網絡已開始與海外研究機構接觸並建立合作關係。

This research is conducted in view of the product chain. It attempts to understand the meaning and the course of development in the Chinese herbal medicine industry in Taiwan. In addition, this research analyzes the social culture that the industry currently faces in order to explain the relation network formed by the manufacturers, industry society, scholars in the academia, and the government administrative department. There are currently no cooperation or outsource amongst the manufacturers in the Chinese herbal industry in Taiwan. With the multi-development of the product chain, the actual manufacturing activities include different space scale. The social network, which used to place much emphasis on personal connection and reputation, when combined with the use of new technologies, has started to influence the government policies and the direction of research in Chinese herbal medicine. Through the analysis of the product chain, this research has found that the relationships between Chinese herbal medicine industry in Taiwan and the government administrations are one of the major reasons for the advantage in the industry competitions.