This monograph study of Japan's industrial development focuses on the role of entrepreneurship first in adopting more advanced Western technology and then in innovating new technologies and developing human resources according to its changing organizational needs. Unlike previous studies in English, it covers the whole of the period since the Meiji restoration, refusing to divide up the credit for Japanese growth between technological improvements and investments in human and physical capital. The book investigates the interaction between private entrepreneurial activities and public policy, through a general examination of economic and industrial development, a study of the evolution of management systems, and six industrial case studies.

For most countries, economic development involves a process of 'catching up' with leading countries at the time. This is never achieved solely by physical assets and labour alone: also needed are the accumulation of technological capabilities, educational attainment, entrepreneurship, and the development of the necessary institutional infrastructure. One element of this infrastructure is the regime of intellectual property rights (IPR), particularly patents. Patents may promote innovation and catch up, and they may foster formal technology transfer. Yet they may also prove to be barriers for developing countries that intend to acquire technologies through imitation and reverse engineering. The current move to harmonize the IPR system internationally, such as the TRIPS agreement, may thus have unexpected consequences for developing countries. This book explores these issues through an in depth study of eleven countries ranging from early developers (the USA, the Nordic Countries, and Japan), and Post-World War II countries (Korea, Taiwan, Israel) to more recent emerging economies (Argentina, Brazil, China, India, and Thailand). With contributions from international experts on innovation systems, this book will be an invaluable resource for academics and policymakers in the fields of economic development, innovation studies and intellectual property laws.

For most countries, economic development involves a process of "catching up" with leading countries at the time. This is never achieved solely by physical assets and labor alone: also needed are the accumulation of technological capabilities, educational attainment, entrepreneurship, and the development of the necessary institutional infrastructure. One element of this infrastructure is the regime of intellectual property rights (IPR), particularly patents. Patents may promote innovation and catch up, and they may foster formal technology transfer. Yet they may also prove to be barriers for developing countries that intend to acquire technologies through imitation and reverse engineering. The current move to harmonize the IPR system internationally, such as the TRIPS agreement, may thus have unexpected consequences for developing countries.
This book explores these issues through an in depth study of eleven countries ranging from early developers (the USA, Nordic Countries and Japan), and Post World War 2 countries (Korea, Taiwan, Israel) to more recent emerging economies (Argentina, Brazil, China, India and Thailand).
With contributions from international experts on innovation systems, this book will be an invaluable resource for academics and policymakers in the fields of economic development, innovation studies and intellectual property laws.

Technology is the key factor in global industrial competition, and Japan's national system of technological innovation has been critical to the economic success of the country since the Second World War. This book examines the historical development of the system, innovation in four major manufacturing industries, the career paths of engineers and overseas R&D, and the influence of public sector institutions and regulations.

Japan was the first major non-western nation to take on board the Western technological and organizational advances of the century after the fist industrial revolution. It subsequently proved fully able to exploit and contribute to the broad, sustained technological advances that began in the twentieth century, as science became harnessed to technology. Japan's economic development remains a model for many technologically less advanced countries which have not yet mastered modern technology to organizational forms; and a knowledge of Japanese technological and economic history can contribute importantly to our understanding of economic growth in the modern era. This book studies the industrial development of Japan since the mid-nineteenth century, with particular emphasis on how the various industries built technological capabilities. The Japanese were extraordinarily creative in searching out and learning to use modern technologies, and the authors investigate the emergence of entrepreneurs who began new and risky businesses, how the business organizations evolved to cope with changing technological conditions, and how the managers, engineers and workers acquired organizational and technological skills through technology importation, learning-by-doing, and their own R&D activities. The book investigates the interaction between private entrepreneural activities and public policy, through a general examination of economic and industrial development, a study of the evolution of management systems, and six industrial case studies: textiles, iron and steel, electrical and communications equipment, automobiles, shipbuilding and aircraft, and pharmaceuticals. The authors show how the Japanese government has played an important supportive role in the continuing innovation, without being a substitute for aggressive business enterprise constantly venturing into unfamiliar terrains.

This book investigates the growth of an economy with management-controlled corporations. It begins by studying the behaviour of a corporation whose management maximizes the rate of growth constrained by the threat of takeover, and in which research and development efforts are made to raise labour productivity. The growth of an economy consisting of a limited number of such corporations is then analysed. In this economy the stocks of corporations are the sole means of wealth-holding available to households. This theory is compared with other well-established growth theories, and some extensions of the basic theory, including policy implications, are also presented. The book contains many important innovative features: the combination of micro- and macro-economic analyses, the consideration of research and development activity, and the role of corporate stocks in economic growth. These features contribute to the major conclusion that the behaviour of management - a product of its preferences and of its environment - is an important factor in economic growth. Applying this conclusion to compare corporate growth in Japan and the United States, the author finds that the Japanese business environment makes management pursue corporate growth more vigourously than in the United States.

This book examines two characteristics that lie at the core of Japanese management: growth pursuit by internal investments (as opposed to acquisitions), and the intensive competition within and among Japanese firms. Odagiri also looks at how these firms maintain flexibility and efficiency under the seemingly rigid system of "lifetime" employment. This work begins with an enquiry into the financial and human aspects of the firm, with particular emphasis on its human portion. The motivation, behavior, and organization of Japanese management as well as the consequences of the system on the Japan's industrial organization and economy are explored. Emphasis is placed on the fact that competition is at the center of the Japanese economy and management style to the same, if not a greater, degree as in the West. This competition is enhanced by the growth preference of the Japanese management style and it also, in turn, makes growth possible.