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Is Japan's Innovative Capacity in Decline?

In: Structural Impediments to Growth in Japan

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  • Lee G. Branstetter
  • Yoshiaki Nakamura

Abstract

This paper investigates changes in the output and productivity of research and development activities in Japanese manufacturing firms over the 1980s and 1990s. Evidence from aggregate patent and R&D statistics and a micro-level analysis of R&D productivity at the firm-level suggest that there has been a slowdown in the growth of Japanese research productivity in the 1990s. The paper goes on to suggest possible explanations for this slowdown and reviews some of the steps Japanese firms are taking to increase the effectiveness of their R&D. The paper presents empirical evidence concerning the impact of one of these steps the creation of technology alliances with U.S. firms on Japanese innovative output.
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Suggested Citation

  • Lee G. Branstetter & Yoshiaki Nakamura, 2003. "Is Japan's Innovative Capacity in Decline?," NBER Chapters, in: Structural Impediments to Growth in Japan, pages 191-224, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberch:9576
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Feenstra, Robert C., 1996. "Trade and uneven growth," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 229-256, April.
    2. Lee Branstetter & Mariko Sakakibara, 1998. "Japanese Research Consortia: A Microeconometric Analysis of Industrial Policy," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(2), pages 207-233, June.
    3. Lee Branstetter, 2010. "Exploring the Link between Academic Science and Industrial Innovation," NBER Chapters, in: Contributions in Memory of Zvi Griliches, pages 119-142, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Jaffe, Adam B, 1986. "Technological Opportunity and Spillovers of R&D: Evidence from Firms' Patents, Profits, and Market Value," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(5), pages 984-1001, December.
    5. Rebecca Henderson & Adam B. Jaffe & Manuel Trajtenberg, 1998. "Universities As A Source Of Commercial Technology: A Detailed Analysis Of University Patenting, 1965-1988," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 80(1), pages 119-127, February.
    6. Hall, B. & Jaffe, A. & Trajtenberg, M., 2001. "The NBER Patent Citations Data File: Lessons, Insights and Methodological Tools," Papers 2001-29, Tel Aviv.
    7. Branstetter, Lee G., 2001. "Are knowledge spillovers international or intranational in scope?: Microeconometric evidence from the U.S. and Japan," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 53-79, February.
    8. Branstetter, Lee, 2006. "Is foreign direct investment a channel of knowledge spillovers? Evidence from Japan's FDI in the United States," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 325-344, March.
    9. Hausman, Jerry & Hall, Bronwyn H & Griliches, Zvi, 1984. "Econometric Models for Count Data with an Application to the Patents-R&D Relationship," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 52(4), pages 909-938, July.
    10. Sakakibara, Mariko & Branstetter, Lee, 2001. "Do Stronger Patents Induce More Innovation? Evidence from the 1988 Japanese Patent Law Reforms," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 32(1), pages 77-100, Spring.
    11. Rosenberg, Nathan & Nelson, Richard R., 1994. "American universities and technical advance in industry," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 323-348, May.
    12. Adam B. Jaffe & Manuel Trajtenberg, 1996. "Flows of Knowledge from Universities and Federal Labs: Modeling the Flowof Patent Citations Over Time and Across Institutional and Geographic Boundari," NBER Working Papers 5712, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Branstetter, Lee & Sakakibara, Mariko, 1998. "Japanese Research Consortia: A Microeconometric Analysis of Industrial Policy," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(2), pages 207-233, June.
    14. Belderbos, Rene, 2001. "Overseas innovations by Japanese firms: an analysis of patent and subsidiary data," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 313-332, February.
    15. Adam S. Posen, 2001. "Unchanging Innovation and Changing Economic Performance in Japan," Working Paper Series WP01-5, Peterson Institute for International Economics.
    16. Narin, Francis & Hamilton, Kimberly S. & Olivastro, Dominic, 1997. "The increasing linkage between U.S. technology and public science," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 317-330, October.
    17. Mansfield, Edwin, 1988. "Industrial R&D in Japan and the United States: A Comparative Study," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 78(2), pages 223-228, May.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Motohashi, Kazuyuki, 2005. "University-industry collaborations in Japan: The role of new technology-based firms in transforming the National Innovation System," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(5), pages 583-594, June.
    2. Nagaoka, Sadao, 2006. "R&D and market value of Japanese firms in the 1990s," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 155-176, June.
    3. Mr. Murtaza H Syed & Ms. Jinsook Lee, 2010. "Japan’s Quest for Growth: Exploring the Role of Capital and innovation," IMF Working Papers 2010/294, International Monetary Fund.
    4. Robert Dekle, 2003. "The Deteriorating Fiscal Situation and an Aging Population," NBER Chapters, in: Structural Impediments to Growth in Japan, pages 71-88, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Elizabeth Webster & Paul H. Jensen, 2011. "Do Patents Matter for Commercialization?," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 54(2), pages 431-453.
    6. Sigurdson, Jon, 2004. "Vlsi Revisited – Revival In Japan," EIJS Working Paper Series 191, Stockholm School of Economics, The European Institute of Japanese Studies.
    7. Iwasa, Tomoko & Odagiri, Hiroyuki, 2004. "Overseas R&D, knowledge sourcing, and patenting: an empirical study of Japanese R&D investment in the US," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(5), pages 807-828, July.
    8. Ogawa, Kazuo, 2007. "Debt, R&D investment and technological progress: A panel study of Japanese manufacturing firms' behavior during the 1990s," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 403-423, December.
    9. Yamashita, Nobuaki, 2021. "Economic crisis and innovation capacity of Japan: Evidence from cross-country patent citations," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    10. Branstetter, Lee, 2006. "Is foreign direct investment a channel of knowledge spillovers? Evidence from Japan's FDI in the United States," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 325-344, March.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D

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