NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.
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The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Frank Press and Dr. Robert M. White are chairman and vice-chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.
The conference and resulting conference volume were made possible with funding support from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Intelligence and Research.
Available from:
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National Research Council
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National Academy Press
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Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 92-85459
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S628
Copyright © 1992 by the National Academy of Sciences
Printed in the United States of America
First Printing, November 1992
Second Printing, May 1993
COMMITTEE ON JAPAN
Erich Bloch, Chairman
Council on Competitiveness
C. Fred Bergsten
Institute for International Economics
Lewis M. Branscomb
Harvard University
Harold Brown
Center for Strategic and and International Studies
Lawrence W. Clarkson
The Boeing Co.
I. M. Destler
University of Maryland
Mildred S. Dresselhaus
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Daniel J. Fink
D. J. Fink Associates, Inc.
Ellen L. Frost
Institute for International Economics
Lester C. Krogh
3M Co.
E. Floyd Kvamme
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers
Yoshio Nishi
Hewlett-Packard Co.
Daniel I. Okimoto
Stanford University
John D. Rockefeller IV
United States Senate
Richard J. Samuels
MIT Japan Program
Robert A. Scalapino
University of California, Berkeley
Hubert J. P. Schoemaker
Centocor, Inc.
Ora E. Smith
Illinois Superconductor Corp.
Albert D. Wheelon
Hughes Aircraft Co. (retired)
Ex Officio Members:
Gerald P. Dinneen, Foreign Secretary,
National Academy of Engineering
James B. Wyngaarden, Foreign Secretary,
National Academy of Sciences and Institute of Medicine
OFFICE OF JAPAN AFFAIRS
Since 1985 the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering have engaged in a series of high-level discussions on advanced technology and the international environment with a counterpart group of Japanese scientists, engineers, and industrialists. One outcome of these discussions was a deepened understanding of the importance of promoting a more balanced two-way flow of people and information between the research and development systems in the two countries. Another result was a broader recognition of the need to address the science and technology policy issues increasingly central to a changing U.S.-Japan relationship. In 1987 the National Research Council, the operating arm of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering, authorized first-year funding for a new Office of Japan Affairs (OJA). This newest program element of the Office of International Affairs was formally established in the spring of 1988.
The primary objectives of OJA are to provide a resource to the Academy complex and the broader U.S. science and engineering communities for information on Japanese science and technology, to promote better working relationships between the technical communities in the two countries by developing a process of deepened dialogue on issues of mutual concern, and to address policy issues surrounding a changing U.S.-Japan science and technology relationship.
Staff
Martha Caldwell Harris, Director
Thomas Arrison, Research Associate
Maki Fife, Program Assistant
Preface
Less than 50 years since the end of World War II, Japan has transformed itself from a defeated nation with a devastated economy to an economic superpower. The reasons for the rise of Japan to economic superpower status are multifaceted, but one of the most striking reasons has been the growing prowess of Japanese firms in high technology industries. As little as two decades ago, Japanese firms were generally considered to be marginal players in these industries. Today, by contrast, Japanese firms are now the acknowledged technological leaders in many advanced sectors. Even in other high technology sectors where the high ground is still held by U.S. firms, Japanese firms are often the prime challengers. The high technology prowess of Japanese firms is indeed a main reason why Japan is considered an economic superpower today.
The growing Japanese role in high technology raises a number of questions for the United States. Some of these questions relate to the current status of the two countries, for example, in what industries do Japanese firms hold technologies more advanced than their U.S. rivals? Are there industries in which U.S. firms still lead but are under serious challenge by Japanese firms? Are there sectors in which a U.S. lead is widening?
More fundamental questions can be asked as well. Why has the relative position of U.S. and Japanese firms in so many industries changed so drastically in such a short period of time? Is this trend likely to continue and, if so, why? How do Japan's growing capabilities in a wide range of high technology industries affect the relative competitiveness of the Japanese and U.S. economies? What other implications (other than those affecting competitiveness) does Japan's growing technological capability hold for the U.S. economy?
More specifically, is the research and development function within Japanese firms organized in such a way as to enable these firms to commercialize new technologies more effectively than their U.S. rivals? What are the implications of Japanese direct investment in the high technology sectors in the United States and the consequent control of U.S. R&D activities by Japanese firms? What should be the U.S. policy response to the Japanese challenge in this area?
In 1991, the Committee on Japan of the National Research Council organized a symposium to address these and related issues. The papers included in this volume were first presented at that symposium entitled "Japan's Growing Technological Capability: Implications for the U.S. Economy" held at the National Academy of Sciences on October 23–24, 1991, and were revised later by the authors. The overview chapter was prepared after the symposium. This volume and the symposium are both parts of an ongoing effort by the Committee on Japan to explore new ways for the United States to compete and cooperate with Japan as a technological superpower. The authors of the papers are of diverse intellectual and institutional backgrounds; they come from Japan, the United States, and Europe; and they represent academia, government, and private industry. The symposium sought to bring together experts in technology along with economists who have studied the economics of technological innovation, in the hope that the two groups of individuals could learn from each other and help inform a broader policy audience.
As a member of the Committee on Japan, I was pleased to serve as chairman of the symposium and as coeditor of this volume. My coeditors are Thomas Arrison and Martha C. Harris, both of the National Research Council's Office of Japan Affairs, and Edward M. Graham of the Institute for International Economics, all of whom (along with Maki Fife, also of the Office of Japan Affairs) worked with me to organize the symposium. Arrison and Harris authored the overview of the symposium included in this volume, which summarizes the principal conclusions of each of the papers. Graham contributed one of the papers as well as serving as coeditor of the volume. Dr. Erich Bloch, currently Chairman of the Committee on Japan, served as a commentator on the policy implications of the papers, and his remarks are included as the final chapter of this volume.
The symposium and this volume were made possible by grants from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Bureau of Intelligence and Research of the U.S. Department of State. On behalf of the Committee on Japan, I would like to thank both of these institutions for their generous support.
C. Fred Bergsten, Chairman
National Research Council Symposium on Japan's Growing Technological Capability: Implications for the U.S. Economy
Contents
Overview |
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Technology Assessment in the U.S.-Japan Context |
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What Can We Learn from Technology Assessment? |
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Accessing Japanese Technology: Experiences of a U.S.-Based Company |
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Studies of Japanese Technology: An Effort with Diminishing Returns? |
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Technology, Productivity, and the Competitiveness of U.S. and Japanese Industries |
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Macroeconomic and Schumpetarian Features of Japanese Innovations in the 1980s |
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The Changing Place of Japan in the Global Scientific and Technological Enterprise |
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Implications of Japan's "Soft Crisis": Forcing New Directions for Japanese Electronics Companies |
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Japan's Unique Capacity to Innovate: Technology Fusion and Its International Implications |
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Japan's Industrial Competitiveness and the Technological Capability of the Leading Japanese Firms |
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Japanese Control of R&D Activities in the United States: Is This a Cause for Concern? |
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Policy Implications of Japan's Growing Technological Capabilities: Framing the Issues |
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Policy Implications for the United States: Comments |
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Comments on Policy Implications |
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