Acquiring, Adapting and Developing Technologies: Lessons from the Japanese Experience (Studies in the Modern Japanese Economy)

Economic progress requires technological development, which in turn depends on a country's social capacity to acquire, assimilate, and develop new technologies. Focusing on the evolution of Japan's economy from the Meiji Restoration to the present day, this volume provides an authoritative account, firmly grounded in theoretical and empirical analysis, of the country's attempts to generate the necessary social capacity for technological innovation and absorption. Successive chapters address the specific experiences of a number of key Japanese industries during this process. Each industrial case study is written by an acknowledged expert in the field and presents material of significant interest to specialists in economic development in a form that is also accessible to the nonspecialist. The book concludes with a summary of useful lessons, variously applicable to countries at all the different stages of industrialization. Japanese Experience In Technology: A Survey / Ryoshin Minami, Kwan S. Kim, Fumio Makino, Joung-hae Seo -- The Development Of Appropriate Technologies For Export Promotion In The Silk-reeling Industry / Ryoshin Minami, Fumio Makino -- Mechanism Of The Diffusion Of Technologies: Case Study Of The Cotton-weaving Industry / Ryoshin Minami, Fumio Makino -- Technology Choice In The Cotton-spinning Industry: The Switch From Mules To Ring Frames / Yukihiko Kiyokawa -- Choice Of Technologies In The Ship-building Industry: Modern Versus Traditional / Katsuo Otsuka -- The Development Of The Farm Machinery Industry: Case Study Of The Walking-type Tractor / Toshiyuki Kako -- The Dynamics Of Innovation And Learning-by-doing: The Case Of The Integrated Circuit Industry / Akimitsu Sakuma -- Organizational Innovation And The Development Of The Sewing-machine Industry / Susumu Hondai -- Technological Innovation In The Steel Industry: Recognizing Potential In Innovations / Seiichiro Yonekura -- An International Comparison Of Productivity And Product Development Performance In The Automobile Industry / Takahiro Fujimoto, Akira Takeishi -- Research And Development Competition And Innovation In The Video Cassette Recorder Industry / Joung-hae Seo -- Japanese Technology And Industrial Development In Thailand: The Experience Of The Synthetic Fibre Industry / Tran Van Tho -- Concluding Reflections: Lessons From The Japanese Experience / Ryoshin Minami...[et Al.]. Edited By Ryōshin Minami ... [et Al.]. Includes Bibliographical References And Indexes. Front Matter....Pages i-xviii Japanese Experience in Technology: A Survey....Pages 1-28 Front Matter....Pages 29-29 The Development of Appropriate Technologies for Export Promotion in the Silk-Reeling Industry....Pages 31-53 Mechanism of the Diffusion of Technologies: Case Study of the Cotton-Weaving Industry....Pages 54-84 Technology Choice in the Cotton-Spinning Industry: The Switch from Mules to Ring Frames....Pages 85-111 Choice of Technologies in the Ship-Building Industry: Modern versus Traditional....Pages 112-137 The Development of the Farm Machinery Industry: Case Study of the Walking-Type Tractor....Pages 138-161 Front Matter....Pages 163-163 The Dynamics of Innovation and Learning-by-Doing: The Case of the Integrated Circuit Industry....Pages 165-190 Organizational Innovation and the Development of the Sewing-Machine Industry....Pages 191-213 Technological Innovation in the Steel Industry: Recognizing Potential in Innovations....Pages 214-248 An International Comparison of Productivity and Product Development Performance in the Automobile Industry....Pages 249-280 Research and Development Competition and Innovation in the Video Cassette Recorder Industry....Pages 281-304 Japanese Technology and Industrial Development in Thailand: The Experience of the Synthetic Fibre Industry....Pages 305-330 Concluding Reflections: Lessons from the Japanese Experience....Pages 331-338 Back Matter....Pages 339-346