Kazuyuki Motohashi

Patent Statistics as an Innovation Indicator

This chapter summarizes the basic characteristics of patent data as an innovation indicator and reviews some of the recent research using patent data, focusing on major developments since Griliches in 1990 [Griliches, Z. (1990). “Patent statistics as economic indicators: A survey”. Journal of Economic Literature 28, 1661–1707]. The first notable development is the availability of patent data on an increasingly global scale and the accompanying global spread of research using patent data. The availability of global patent data has increased the value of patent information in a number of ways. The second notable development is the significant expansion of research using citation information as well as better understanding of its nature. Citation information has been found to provide very useful information on the value of patents, although backward citation as a measure of information flow is found to be more controversial. The third major development is the extensive implementation of surveys such as the “innovation survey” of firms and the inventor survey. They have deepened our understanding of the usefulness and the constraints of bibliographic indicators based on patent. The forth development is better understanding of the nature of the patent system and the reformulation of patent data, a good example of which is the development of patent family data, based on priority information.

China's National Innovation System Reform and Growing Science Industry Linkage

Summary In this paper, innovation policies for systems reform in China since the middle 80s are surveyed and its impacts on science industry linkage activities are investigated by looking into (1) technology market, (2) S&T outsourcing activities of firms and (3) co‐invention patents by applicants in firms, universities and public research institutions. All of these findings suggest that the role of science sector in Chinas economic development process has become larger, and double skin problem (separation of science and industry sector) in Chinas innovation system has been gradually solved by a number of policy actions to facilitate science industry linkages.

Innovative converged service and its adoption, use and diffusion: a holistic approach to diffusion of innovations, combining adoption-diffusion and use-diffusion paradigms

This study takes a holistic approach to understanding the diffusion of IPTV services by combining the adoption-diffusion model and the use-diffusion model of innovation. IPTV service, a leading converged application that couples media content with telecom services, was recently launched commercially in Korea. We created a structural model of adoption-diffusion, using the perceived ease-of-use and usefulness of TAM (Technology Acceptance Model) as mediating variables, and a structural model of usediffusion, with the rate of use and the variety of use as mediating variables. To empirically analyze these models, non-users of IPTV were surveyed using the adoptiondiffusion model to identify factors influencing their intention to subscribe to the service. Meanwhile, users of IPTV were surveyed using the use-diffusion model to determine the factors that influence their satisfaction with the service and their intention to re-use it. Under the adoption-diffusion model, we found that trialability, household innovativeness and perceived risk were the determinants of user satisfaction with IPTV, and perceived ease-of-use, the mediating factor. Under the use-diffusion model, complementarity and communication were shown to be the determinants of users’ satisfaction with IPTV, and variety of use, the mediating factor. We also found that consumers’ intentions to re-use IPTV was strongly influenced by its relative advantages and perceived risks.

R&D Activities of Manufacturing Multinationals in China: Structure, Motivations and Regional Differences

This paper investigates the R&D motivations of various multinationals operating in China, drawing on a large-scale, firm-level dataset of official Chinese statistics on science and technology activities. The present study shows that R&D efforts in China have intensified for both foreign-owned and domestic firms, but less so for foreign-owned firms, perhaps because foreign-owned firms tend to operate on a foundation of technological capabilities developed within their home countries. Copyright (c) 2010 The Author China & World Economy (c) 2010 Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The changing autarky pharmaceutical R&D process: causes and consequences of growing R&D collaboration in Japanese firms

This paper analyses the changing R&D process at Japanese pharmaceutical companies, based on a questionnaire survey as well as structured interviews at large Japanese pharmaceutical companies. Japanese pharmaceutical companies have recently engaged in active R&D collaborations with other firms and universities. This paper identifies the factors underlying this trend, finding that all three factors technological opportunity, the market conditions factor and the innovation policy factor are important. Our study also found that Japanese pharmaceutical companies use foreign technologies rather than domestic technologies, despite considerable investment by the Japanese government in biotechnology projects in the public sector. This underscores the importance of devising a mechanism to facilitate the application of research results in the public sector to innovate private firms.

Assessing Japan’s Industrial Competitiveness by International Productivity Level: Comparison with China, Korea, Taiwan and the United States

The outstanding economic performance of East Asian countries has been investigated in numerous studies. However, most comparative studies analyze macro-level productivity. In this book, the productivity performance of China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan and the United States are compared at industry level. The work is a result of an international collaborative research project by RIETI (Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry), Japan. The total factor productivity growth and level amongst these five countries sheds new light on the industrial competitiveness of growing Asian economies compared to Japan and the United States. In addition, this book provides detailed information on productivity datasets for these five countries.

Catching up or lagging behind? Assessment of technological capacity of China by patent database

Using the database consisting of 679,056 individual patents from the years 1985 through 2005, we analyzed technological capabilities of China. In general, we can see a substantial trend of Chinese firms catching up with Western counterparts in patent statistics. However, there are substantially heterogeneous patterns in technology catching up. This paper provides detailed case studies in two high-tech sectors: the pharmaceutical industry and mobile communications technology. These two fields show contrasting trends, in the sense that rapid catching up can be found in mobile communications technology, while Chinese companies are still lagging behind Western counterparts in the pharmaceutical industry.

Subcontracting Structure and Productivity in the Japanese Software Industry

Abstract.This paper presents an empirical analysis of the factors determining the productivity of the software industry in Japan, using individual data from the Survey of the State of the Information Service Industry conducted in August 2006 by IPA (Information-Technology Promotion Agency, Japan). This paper focuses on the relationship between the subcontracting structure and productivity in the Japanese software industry. Software enterprises are classified as prime contractors, intermediate subcontractors, end-contractors, and independent enterprise. A comparison of their productivity levels reveals that intermediate subcontractors are the least productive. However, it is observed that the intermediate subcontractors possessing a high quality of human resources measured the proportion of employees passing the Information Technology Engineers Examination (ITEE), or the intermediate subcontractors adopting the IT skill standard which defines the skills for IT human resources clearly and systematically, has a high productivity level. It can raise the productivity in software industry as a whole.

Productivity in Asia

The outstanding economic performance of East Asian countries has been investigated in numerous studies. However, most comparative studies analyze macro-level productivity. In this book, the productivity performance of China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan and the United States are compared at industry level. The work is a result of an international collaborative research project by RIETI (Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry), Japan. The total factor productivity growth and level amongst these five countries sheds new light on the industrial competitiveness of growing Asian economies compared to Japan and the United States. In addition, this book provides detailed information on productivity datasets for these five countries.

Digital convergence service from the viewpoint of provider and user factors using technology acceptance and diffusion model

Convergence diffuses new business models and derives significant changes across global industrial activities. As such, convergence is emerging as a hot issue within IT industries nowadays. Particularly, digital convergence is creating yet another distinct blue ocean, as computers are evolving from their combination with communications to their combination with broadcasting and communications involving media contents. The objective of this study is to examine the differentiated characteristics of IT convergence service vis-à-vis the exiting IT service from the viewpoint of service providers and service users, and to define the cultural difference between the two nations (South Korea and Japan) based on Hofstede’s cultural model (2001, 2005). Thus, using (1989) TAM (Technology Acceptance Model) theory, represented by IS adaption and use, and (2003) IS success model, this study developed a research model in the form of a structural equation. This model is based conceptually on the viewpoint of (1992, 2003) acceptance and diffusion, and on the viewpoint of (2002) use and diffusion, and was designed based on theory of reasoned action and theory of planned behavior considering the service user’s personal attitude and behavior elements. In order to perform a statistical verification of this research model, the representative analysis tool for a structural equation, the partial least squares method, was used. As a result of such statistical analysis, it was confirmed that that there was a significant change in consumers’ perception and behaviors regarding the acceptance and diffusion of innovations according to cultural difference between the two nations. In addition, subsequent diverse implications were derived, and as such, this study made a significant contribution to the development of future research on convergence innovation services.