TY - JOUR
T1 - Different evolutionary paths
T2 - Technological development of laser diodes in the US and Japan, 1960-2000
AU - Shimizu, Hiroshi
N1 - Funding Information:
The findings of this paper also suggest that the level of vertical integration affects the locus of technological change. In the first instance, it confirms that the low level of vertical integration in the US gave firms the incentive to differentiate their R&D targets. Research networks, high labour mobility, and financial support from the military allowed the firms to utilise the technology and to target customised markets. This contrasts with the vertically integrated firms of Japan, which were able to continue investing in basic technology longer because they retained secure in-house demand. Furthermore, the absence of mature inter-organisational networks and military funding, together with low labour mobility, served to channel competition into the same technological areas. In aggregate, the strategic R&D choices made by competing firms affected the areas in which innovation occurred. In the US, technological development resulted from competition among specialised firms in the areas where these firms were exploiting untapped and customised markets, thus diffusing laser diode technology across numerous niche markets. The Development Bank of Japan report (1986) states that US firms dominated the small, customised markets for medical applications, effectively squeezing out competition from Japanese firms (Nihon Kaihatsu Ginkoµ Choµsabu, 1986, pp. 44–105). Development of core epitaxial technologies, however, was held back in the US, whereas in Japan the competition among highly integrated firms in the same technological areas allowed electronics firms to accumulate technological competence in specific areas and to achieve breakthroughs in the core technology, leaving specialised and customised markets untapped.
PY - 2010/12
Y1 - 2010/12
N2 - Exploring the technological development of laser diodes from 1960 to 2000, this study examines how US and Japanese firms diverged from the same technological target to take separate evolutionary paths over time and came to be competitive in the different areas. Scrutinising the level of vertical integration, entrepreneurial start-ups, scientists' mobility and research networks, it shows that R&D efforts were scattered over different technological domains, giving US firms the chance to obtain technological advantages in customised and small markets. R&D efforts were concentrated in the same targeted markets in Japan, giving Japanese companies the opportunity to capture the markets offering the highest sales volumes.
AB - Exploring the technological development of laser diodes from 1960 to 2000, this study examines how US and Japanese firms diverged from the same technological target to take separate evolutionary paths over time and came to be competitive in the different areas. Scrutinising the level of vertical integration, entrepreneurial start-ups, scientists' mobility and research networks, it shows that R&D efforts were scattered over different technological domains, giving US firms the chance to obtain technological advantages in customised and small markets. R&D efforts were concentrated in the same targeted markets in Japan, giving Japanese companies the opportunity to capture the markets offering the highest sales volumes.
KW - Laser diodes
KW - Research networks
KW - Scientists' mobility
KW - Technological development
KW - Vertical integration
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U2 - 10.1080/00076791.2010.523461
DO - 10.1080/00076791.2010.523461
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:78650333808
SN - 0007-6791
VL - 52
SP - 1151
EP - 1181
JO - Business History
JF - Business History
IS - 7
ER -