Social Background of the Development of High-Tech Industry in Silicon Valley

This study is interested in the social background of the development of the high-tech industry in Silicon Valley. It may appear that Silicon Valley is an area in which market and free competition make high tech firms thrive. However, Silicon Valley"s industry has been developed under certain social background, that is, institutions and infrastructures. These institutions and infrastructures have been especially important for the formation of agglomeration of high tech firms, which is necessary precondition for autonomous development of a high-tech area. Proper institutions and infrastructure are necessary for industrial development even after the formation of agglomeration. The items which compose the social background of the high-tech industry in Silicon Vally can be grouped into three categories. The items in the first category can be said to represent American charateristics. Those are such items as venture capital, anti-trust policy, the practice of spin-off. The items in the second category are what invited the high-tech firms to Silicon Valley. Those are Stanford university, good weather, and vicinity to San Francisco. The items in the third category are institutions and infrastructures which grew after the development of industry. Those are trade associations, business service companies, book shops, and newspapers and so forth. This study examines the role of universities, venture capitals, and trade associations in the development of the high-tech industry in Silicon Valley, together with the situation of living condition, labor maket and industrial relations. This study also touches how Silicon Valley reponds to the stagnation of economic growh these days

A Study on the Industrial Relations in the Taiwanese Firms

This study analyzes the industrial relations at the enterprise level in Taiwan which has experienced the process of democratization since the end of the 1980"s. Previous studies on the Taiwanese industrial relations have mainly been concerned with the industrial relations at the national level. We, on the contrary, are trying to clarify the industrial relations at the enterprise level. There has been some development of labor movement in Taiwan since the abolition of martial law in 1987. A number of independent unions were organized, and labor disputes proliferated. However, the industrial relations at the enterprise level is still far from democratic. Labor unions are not fully independent of employers. Members" participation in union is weak. The number of unions which have genuine collective agreements is small. Workers prefer to rely on informal networks rather than union or collective action in settling their grievances. The labor peace in Taiwan is based on the lack of union power within firms rather than on the conciliation of interests between employers and workers