Management of Cluster Policies: Case Studies of Japanese, German, and French Bio-clusters

This paper provides a detailed comparison of the following five cases of Japanese and European clusters in biotechnology: (1) Kobe Biomedical Innovation Cluster (KBIC) in Kobe (Japan), (2) Fuji Pharma Valley Cluster in Shizuoka Prefecture (Japan), (3) BioM Biotech Cluster in Munich (Germany), (4) BioRegion Rhine-Neckar in Heidelberg (Germany), and (5) Alsace BioValley Cluster in Strasbourg (France). We pay special attention to the cluster policy and its management by each region's core cluster management organization. Information on the focal clusters and the management of cluster policies has been obtained through interviews with the cluster directors and core staff in 2010 and 2011. We find several similarities and differences among the five cases of Japanese and European clusters. We also discuss how the management of cluster policies by the core management organizations may be related with the performance of regional clusters.management, cluster policy, regional cluster, R&D, biotechnology, international comparison

Investor Right in Historical Perspective: Globalization and the Future of the Japanese Firm and Financial System

The evolution of investor right in Japan is examined in a historical perspective since the prewar period and in relation to the evolution in firm-specific skill formation. First, we will show that the investment in firm-specific skills spread from the top to the bottom in a firm system. Second, we will show that the delegation of control right of physical assets to employees was caused in order to accommodate the rapid technological changes. The weak investor right in Japan evolved through a rational choice of asset holders (shareholders and landlords), who delegated part of control right over their assets to actual producers (managers, workers, and tenant farmers) in order to maximize the benefits of firm-specific skill formation by them. A cautious approach is needed in adjusting the investor right to global standards: a stronger investor right would enhance allocation efficiency of financial resources, but it could be harmful to organizational efficiency based on investment in firm-specific skills.

Economic development, competition policy, and the World Trade Organization

At the recent World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial meeting in Doha, Qatar, WTO members called for the launch of negotiations on disciplines relating to competition based on explicit consensus on modalities to be agreed at the fifth WTO ministerial meeting in 2003. WTO discussions since 1997 have revealed little support for ambitious multilateral action. Proponents of the WTO antitrust disciplines currently propose an agreement that is limited to"core principles"-nondiscrimination, transparency, and provisions banning"hard core"cartels. The authors argue that an agreement along such lines will create compliance costs for developing countries without addressing the anticompetitive behavior of firms located in foreign jurisdictions. To be unambiguously beneficial to low-income countries, any WTO antitrust disciplines should recognize the capacity constraints that prevail in these economies, make illegal collusive business practices by firms with international operations that raise prices in developing country markets, and require competition authorities in high-income countries to take action against firms located in their jurisdictions to defend the interests of affected developing country consumers. More generally, a case is made that traditional liberalization commitments using existing WTO fora will be the most effective means of lowering prices and increasing access to an expanded variety of goods and services.Markets and Market Access,Economic Theory&Research,Labor Policies,Environmental Economics&Policies,ICT Policy and Strategies,Environmental Economics&Policies,Economic Theory&Research,TF054105-DONOR FUNDED OPERATION ADMINISTRATION FEE INCOME AND EXPENSE ACCOUNT,ICT Policy and Strategies,Access to Markets

Innovative Tokyo

This paper compares and contrasts Tokyo's innovation structure with the industrial districts model and the international hub model in the literature on urban and regional development. The Tokyo model embraces and yet transcends both industrial districts and international hub models. The paper details key elements making up the Tokyo model-organizational knowledge creation, integral and co-location systems of corporate R&D and new product development, test markets, industrial districts and clusters, participative consumer culture, continuous learning from abroad, local government policies, the national system of innovation, and the historical genesis of Tokyo in Japan's political economy. The paper finds that the Tokyo model of innovation will continue to evolve with the changing external environment, but fundamentally retains its main characteristics. The lessons from the Tokyo model is that openness, a diversified industrial base, the continuing development of new industries, and an emphasis on innovation, all contribute to the dynamism of a major metropolitan region.Labor Policies,Environmental Economics&Policies,Public Health Promotion,ICT Policy and Strategies,Agricultural Knowledge&Information Systems,ICT Policy and Strategies,Environmental Economics&Policies,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Agricultural Knowledge&Information Systems,Innovation

Japan: The banks are back! Or are they?

Since fiscal 2003, the 'performance' of the Japanese banking sector, in terms of profitability, asset quality, and capital adequacy, has improved markedly as the real economy has recovered, suggesting that the widespread pessimism (see, for example, Hall, 2006 and IMF, 2003) expressed earlier concerning the fragility of the sector was somewhat overdone. Yet, despite these positive developments, a number of serious challenges still face the Japanese banking industry and their supervisors. Core profitability, for example, remains very weak, in part due to wafer thin lending margins at home and sluggish corporate loan demand. Asset quality has also widely suffered because of exposure to the re-regulated consumer finance industry and the US sub-prime market. And controversy still surrounds the issues of bank "under-reserving" and regulatory tolerance of "double gearing" on the capital adequacy front. These, and other, problems must be resolved if Japanese banks are to finally re-claim the ground lost to international competitors over the last 15 years or so and secure lasting improvement in their financial health.Japanese Banking; Performance – Capital Adequacy and Profitability; Supervision; Financial Stability.

The Keiretsu Fable - Where does the Truth Lie?

The success of the Japanese automobile industry has mystified Western scholars for many decades. In the early post-war years, the industry did not receive any blessings from the Bank of Japan. Even MITI was a little pessimistic about the industry’s future. The inclusion of the automobile components industry as part of MITI’s “pick-the-winner” industrial policy appeared almost as an afterthought. Yet against all odds the industry flourished to become one of Japan’s best known success stories. Western scholars and business strategists alike are naturally keen to deconstruct this mystery, while Japanese scholars were no less enthusiastic in documenting and offering an explanation. Many explored the keiretsu structure (networking or supplier relationship) as a possible source of the industry’s competitive advantage. Something has gone amiss however, in this parallel effort, and gaps and misperceptions developed. This paper explores some of the myths surrounding this industry. In the process, it revaluates MITI’s policy and raised another research question of whether some of Toyota’s domestic competitors might have misinterpreted the nature of Toyota’s keiretsu.keiretsu; industrial policy; exclusiveness; MITI

型を重視した通信ネットワークトポロジー設計手法の研究

通信ネットワークの設計において，ネットワークトポロジー設計は，通信コストや通信性能を確保するという観点から重要な項目である．その設計手法には大きく分けて，従来からの人手による経験的なアプローチと，コンピュータによる自動設計があるが，特に実世界での物理的な通信ネットワークトポロジー設計においては，多くの場合に人手による伝統的な設計手法が用いられて来た．特に，現実世界でのWAN等の物理トポロジー設計は，Star，Bus，Ring 等の典型的なトポロジー型を積極的に利用したものとなっている.コンピュータによる自動設計については，Kleinroch 以降，通信ネットワークトポロジー設計を最適化問題とし定式化するアプローチとして，計算機ネットワークの応用分野の拡大により様々な展開が見られる．しかし，その多くは実世界で多用されるStar，Bus，Ring などのトポロジー型を考慮しない．このため，論理ネットワーク設計には有効であるが，広域物理ネットワークのトポロジー設計で重視されるトポロジーの型への指向性が弱い．これもあり，実世界での物理的な通信ネットワークのトポロジー設計においては，多くの場合に人手による伝統的な設計手法が用いられて来た．伝統的設計法では，まず通信フロー行列をもとに，典型的なトポロジー型もしくはその組み合わせによる有望な構成案を探しだし, それを通信速度，冗長性，コストなどの現実世界の要求を満たすように加工・変形することにより，様々な環境に適応させるという方法をとっている. 現代の通信ネットワークにおいても構造的な型ベースのトポロジー設計は重要である．そこで本研究では，この伝統的手法の自動化を目標とし，性能（平均遅延時間）を充足する多様な型を階層化したトポロジー（型階層トポロジー）を自動生成する方法を提案する．ネットワーク設計者には生成された型階層トポロジーがその属性（費用，平均遅延，ノード次数，平均リンク容量，平均リンク長）と共に提示され，ネットワーク設計者は適切な案を選択できる．具体的には，まず，型階層生成の母体となる局所星状木型のネットワークトポロジー生成手法を提案する．局所星状木とは局所的なStar クラスタが連結された全域木であり，物理ネットワーク設計に適したトポロジーである．ここでは，Kleinrochが定式化した最適化問題を型が木という制約条件下で解き，与えられたノード間距離行列と通信フロー行列のもとで，目標遅延時間を満足するコストが小さい木型ネットワークを生成する．本手法の特色は解候補集合の生成方法にあり，ノード間の完全グラフのリンクに，リンク距離とフロー強度を反映した重み付きリンクコストを与え，重み付けパラメータを変えてKruskal 法で最小全域木を求めることにより，リンク容量最小のStar から総リンク長最小のMST までの多様な局所星状木をパラメトリックに生成する．論文ではこの性質の数学的基礎の解明もおこなった．最終目的である多様な型階層トポロジーの生成は，まず，上記手法をボトムアップに繰り返しこのStar 型階層トポロジーを得る．その後，特定階層のStar を他の型（Bus, Ring）に書き換えることで多様な型階層トポロジーを生成する．さらに，目標平均遅延時間を実現するリンク容量を求めたのち，人による最終案の選択を支援するための属性を計算して提示する．現実世界では業種や業態に合わせて通信特性とリンク費用関数特性の組み合わせで分類される異なるトポロジーのタイプが見られる．例えば，平均遅延時間制約が強い金融系などの場合はStar 型を中心としたトポロジーが重用され，性能に比してリンク費用がより重視される場合にはBus やRing 型が重用される．そこで，提案したトポロジー生成方式の入力である通信行列特性とリンク費用関数特性を変更させたものを組み合わせて通信ネットワーク構築の際の環境条件を模擬し，トポロジー生成を試みた．得られたトポロジーの型は，現実世界で環境に応じて重用される型と整合しており，提案方式の有用性を示す結果であると考える．電気通信大学201

The Impact of Foreign Direct Investment in Japan: Case Studies of the Automobile, Finance, and Health Care Industries

Having historically received very little foreign direct investment, Japan has experienced a substantial increase in such inflows in recent years. This paper analyzes the impact of the growing presence of foreign firms on the Japanese economy through detailed case studies on the automobile, finance, and health care industries. The wholesale & retail and the telecommunications sector are also briefly examined. The case studies show that in the sectors considered, foreign firms in one way or another are contributing to a greater degree of competition, are exposing domestic firms to global best practice, and are increasing the range of products and services available in Japan. In many of the sectors, they are also contributing to changes in industry structure and employment practices. The case studies thus illustrate that foreign direct investment - even at its present levels, which, although large by Japanese standards, are still low in international comparison - can be an important catalyst for change and hence help to reinvigorate the Japanese economy.