The spatial and hierarchical organization of Japanese and US multinational semiconductor firms

In this paper, we compare the spatial organization of Japanese and US vertically integrated semiconductor producers. Our approach is to discuss the nature of the spatial industrial clusters exhibited by these firms and to assess the extent to which such observations are consistent with many of the recent discussions concerning the advantages of industrial clustering. In order to do this, we first provide a detailed explanation of the structure of the semiconductor industry according to activity types and firm types. On the basis of these discussions, we then employ a diagrammatic approach to understanding the relationships between the organizational structure of the firms and their spatial structure. Examples of two Japanese firms are contrasted with a US firm. The results suggest that although clustering does take place for both types of firms, the rationales for clustering are quite different according to the national contexts. Moreover, in neither case, is the observed pattern clustering the result of the types of influences often suggested in much of the literature.