IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/envira/v22y1990i2p233-252.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

High-Technology Restructuring in the USA and Japan

Author

Listed:
  • R Florida

    (School of Urban and Public Affairs, Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA)

  • M Kenney

    (Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA)

Abstract

In this paper, the comparative responses of the USA and Japan to the rise of new high-technology industries are examined. The United States pattern mainly revolves around the rise of high-technology districts like Silicon Valley and Route 128 which comprise dense networks of small entrepreneurial firms and other related institutions. Despite its tremendous innovative capabilities, this pattern generates significant costs (that is, high turnover of labor, chronic entrepreneurship, and an emphasis on breakthrough innovations at the expense of manufactured products) which are not sufficiently recognized by proponents of the flexible specialization or ‘simple flexibility’ thesis. The Japanese approach to restructuring is contrasted as one of ‘structured flexibility’ where large corporations perform important ‘system governance’ functions in the linking of manufacturing and innovation and act as focal points in just-in-time production complexes. Japan's pattern of ‘structured flexibility’ overcomes many of the limitations of high-technology organization in the USA.

Suggested Citation

  • R Florida & M Kenney, 1990. "High-Technology Restructuring in the USA and Japan," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 22(2), pages 233-252, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:22:y:1990:i:2:p:233-252
    DOI: 10.1068/a220233
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1068/a220233
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1068/a220233?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Soon Kyoung Cho, 1985. "The Labor Process and Capital Mobility: The Limits of the New International Division of Labor," Politics & Society, , vol. 14(2), pages 185-222, June.
    2. Knuth Dohse & Ulrich Jürgens & Thomas Nialsch, 1985. "From "Fordism" to "Toyotism"? The Social Organization of the Labor Process in the Japanese Automobile Industry," Politics & Society, , vol. 14(2), pages 115-146, June.
    3. Banri Asanuma, 1985. "The Contractual Framework for Parts Supply in the Japanese Automotive Industry," Japanese Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(4), pages 54-78.
    4. Florida, Richard & Kenney, Martin, 1988. "Venture capital and high technology entrepreneurship," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 301-319.
    5. Dorfman, Nancy S., 1983. "Route 128: The development of a regional high technology economy," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 12(6), pages 299-316, December.
    6. A J Scott & D P Angel, 1988. "The Global Assembly-Operations of US Semiconductor Firms: A Geographical Analysis," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 20(8), pages 1047-1067, August.
    7. Rosenberg, Nathan & Steinmueller, W Edward, 1988. "Why Are Americans Such Poor Imitators?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 78(2), pages 229-234, May.
    8. Sakakibara, Kiyonori & Westney, D. Eleanor, 1985. "Comparative Study of the Training, Careers and Organization of Engineers in the Computer Industry in the United States and Japan," Hitotsubashi Journal of commerce and management, Hitotsubashi University, vol. 20(1), pages 1-20, December.
    9. Banri Asanuma, 1985. "The Organization of Parts Purchases in the Japanese Automotive Industry," Japanese Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(4), pages 32-53.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Lehrer, Mark & Banerjee, Preeta M. & Wang, I. Kim, 2017. "When the sky is the limit on scale: From temporal to multiplicative scaling in process-based technologies," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 151-159.
    2. Epicoco, Marianna, 2013. "Knowledge patterns and sources of leadership: Mapping the semiconductor miniaturization trajectory," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 180-195.
    3. James Simmie, 2005. "Critical surveys edited by Stephen Roper innovation and space: A critical review of the literature," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(6), pages 789-804.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. McLaren, John, 1999. "Supplier relations and the market context: A theory of handshakes," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 121-138, June.
    2. José Sousa & Xavier Fairise, 2014. "On the value of partial commitment for cooperative investment in buyer–supplier relationship," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 111(2), pages 151-171, March.
    3. Morita, Hodaka & Nakahara, Hirohiko, 2004. "Impacts of the information-technology revolution on Japanese manufacturer-supplier relationships," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 390-415, September.
    4. Junya Sakaguchi & Yutaka Kato & Nobumasa Shimizu, 2005. "Valiability of Buyer-Supplier Relationships: Empirical Evidence from Japanese Keiretsu Systems," Discussion Papers 2005-03, Kobe University, Graduate School of Business Administration.
    5. D P Angel, 1991. "High-Technology Agglomeration and the Labor Market: The Case of Silicon Valley," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 23(10), pages 1501-1516, October.
    6. J Patchell, 1999. "Creating the Japanese Electric Vehicle Industry: The Challenges of Uncertainty and Cooperation," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 31(6), pages 997-1016, June.
    7. Edward J. Malecki, 1993. "Entrepreneurship in Regional and Local Development," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 16(1-2), pages 119-153, April.
    8. José De Sousa & Xavier Fairise, 2009. "Do we need handshakes to cooperate in buyer-supplier relationships?," Documents de recherche 09-15, Centre d'Études des Politiques Économiques (EPEE), Université d'Evry Val d'Essonne.
    9. Garud, Raghu & Gehman, Joel & Giuliani, Antonio Paco, 2014. "Contextualizing entrepreneurial innovation: A narrative perspective," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(7), pages 1177-1188.
    10. Mário Franco & Heiko Haase & Sandra Correia, 2018. "Exploring Factors in the Success of Creative Incubators: a Cultural Entrepreneurship Perspective," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 9(1), pages 239-262, March.
    11. KANG Byeongwoo & MOTOHASHI Kazuyuki, 2020. "Local Industry Influence on Commercialization of University Research by University Startups," Discussion papers 20086, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    12. Aaron Chatterji & Edward Glaeser & William Kerr, 2014. "Clusters of Entrepreneurship and Innovation," Innovation Policy and the Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 14(1), pages 129-166.
    13. Christopher S. Hayter, 2016. "A trajectory of early-stage spinoff success: the role of knowledge intermediaries within an entrepreneurial university ecosystem," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 47(3), pages 633-656, October.
    14. Doris Kwon & Olav Sorenson, 2023. "The Silicon Valley Syndrome," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 47(2), pages 344-368, March.
    15. Saeki, Yasuo & Horak, Sven, 2013. "The role of trust in cultivating relation-specific skills: The case of a multinational automotive supplier in Japan and Germany," Working Papers on East Asian Studies 95/2013, University of Duisburg-Essen, Institute of East Asian Studies IN-EAST.
    16. Raddant, Matthias & Takahashi, Hiroshi, 2019. "The Japanese corporate board network," Kiel Working Papers 2130, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    17. Madhuri Mahato & Julie Vardhan, 2022. "The spatial distribution of self-employment — evidence from Jharkhand," Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, Springer;UNESCO Chair in Entrepreneurship, vol. 12(1), pages 291-304, December.
    18. Kim, Younghwan & Kim, Wonjoon & Yang, Taeyong, 2012. "The effect of the triple helix system and habitat on regional entrepreneurship: Empirical evidence from the U.S," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 154-166.
    19. Yating Li & Martin Kenney & Donald Patton & Abraham Song, 2023. "Entrepreneurial ecosystems and industry knowledge: does the winning region take all?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(1), pages 153-172, June.
    20. Hervas-Oliver, Jose-Luis & Lleo, María & Cervello, Roberto, 2017. "The dynamics of cluster entrepreneurship: Knowledge legacy from parents or agglomeration effects? The case of the Castellon ceramic tile district," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 73-92.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:22:y:1990:i:2:p:233-252. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.