How do new industries emerge?

―The case of Japan's game software and biotech industry―

March 16, 2009 6:00 PM (finished)


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Cornelia Storz, Ph.D.

(the Chair for Japanese Economy at the Goethe University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Germany)

Date/Time March 16, 2009 6:00 PM
Location Room 549 5th floor, Akamon Sogo Kenkyuto Institute of Social Science, University of Tokyo  [map]
Abstract The institutional framework of the US economy has proven to be favorable to new industries. Since the end of the '80s, the US shows a dramatic expansion of new industries such as software or biotechnology. In contrast, the Japanese framework seemed to have been less appropriate. Until recently, Japan's performance has been disappointing. The most prominent argument for Japan's weakness has been that its national framework is less appropriate for the emergence of new and innovative industries. This induced vigorous efforts to reform its innovation system. The expectation why some new industries gained ground in Japan could be that Japan has reformed its national framework so drastically, that now a new and more appropriate framework has emerged. However, what we observe is quite different: We do not find a Silicon Valley model No. 2. in Japan. This paper tries to understand this, on the first glance, contradictory evidence. In a first step, the paper lines up with the "related varieties" discussion of the varieties of capitalism approach which has analysed a nation's specialization in accordance to the respective institutional setting, and adds empirical evidence for Japan. In a second step, the paper aims at an enlargement of the "related varieties" approach in order to gain a more dynamic understanding of the emergence of new industries, focusing on the role of dominant and peripheral elements of Japan's innovation system and their adaption to new ends and uses.
Bio Cornelia Storz currently holds the Chair for Japanese Economy at the Goethe University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Germany and is affiliated to the Interdisciplinary Centre for East Asian Studies (IZO). She has been guest researcher at the Institute of Social Sciences/ University of Tokyo, the Japan Institute for Labour Policy and Training, the Kansai University and RIETI at METI. Her past research include work on comparative institutional analysis with a focus on institutional change, compliance with environmental regulations, standards and international standard-setting, and innovation systems.