Mariko Sakakibara

When Do Research Consortia Work Well and Why? Evidence from Japanese Panel Data

We examine the impact of a large number of Japanese government-sponsored research consortia on the research productivity of participating firms by measuring their patenting in the targeted technologies before, during, and after participation. Consistent with the theoretical predictions of Katz (1986) and others, we find consortium outcomes are positively associated with the level of potential R&D spillovers within the consortium and (weakly) negatively associated with the degree of product market competition among consortium members. Furthermore, our evidence suggests that consortia are most effective when they focus on basic research.

Evaluating government-sponsored R&D consortia in Japan: who benefits and how?

Abstract A large sample of government-sponsored R&D consortia in Japan in analyzed, based on the data of 237 consortia organized over 34 years and 398 responses to questionnaires distributed to high-level corporate R&D managers who have participated in R&D consortia. My analysis shows that there is no clear link between the existence of R&D consortia and industry competitiveness. Government support of R&D consortia is modest and declining. R&D consortia participants perceive sharing complementary knowledge to be the single most important objective of R&D consortia. There is evidence that R&D consortia work as a complement of private R&D. The perceived benefits of projects are rather intangible, such as researcher training and increased awareness of R&D in general. Opportunistic behavior and spillovers of proprietary technology to participants are not perceived as severe problems in conducting cooperative R&D. The overall subjective evaluation of the typical projects success is modest, and participants do not perceive R&D consortia to be critical to the establishment of their competitive position.

Competing at Home to Win Abroad: Evidence from Japanese Industry

The study explores the influence of domestic competition on international trade performance, using data from a broad sample of Japanese industries. Domestic rivalry is measured directly using marketshare instability rather than employing structural variables such as seller concentration. We find robust evidence that domestic rivalry has a positive and significant relationship with trade performance measured by world export share, particularly when R&D intensity reveals opportunities for dynamic improvement and innovation. Conversely, trade protection reduces export performance. These findings support the view that local competition - not monopoly, collusion, or a sheltered home market - pressures dynamic improvement that leads to international competitiveness.

Competition in Japan

This article examines competition in Japan and its link to postwar economic prosperity. While Japans industrial structure and competition policy seem to indicate that competition in Japan has been less intense, the empirical evidence does not support this conclusion. The sectors in which competition was restricted prove to be those where Japan was not internationally successful. In the internationally successful sectors, internal competition in Japan was invariably fierce. While the level of competition in Japan is currently rising, economic recovery is still hindered by distortions in the competition in many industries.

Cooperative R&D in Japan and Korea: a comparison of industrial policy

This article compares and evaluates Japanese and Korean industrial policies aimed at promoting the research activities of firms, with focus on government-sponsored R&D consortia. Korean R&D promotion policies were introduced 20– 30 years later than Japan. In contrast to the Japanese case, Korean protective industrial policies prolonged and encouraged the duplication of technological capabilities among the major chaebols. Korean R&D consortia did not fully promote R&D cooperation, knowledge-sharing, or scale economies equivalent to the Japanese level. The organizational and institutional structure which developed under Korean industrial policy became an obstacle to the effective implementation of cooperative R&D.

Cooperative research and development: who participates and in which industries do projects take place?

Abstract This article identifies the characteristics of industry categories to which cooperative RD firms in RD and, projects tend to be formed in industries which have a strong vertical relationship with the participants. There is evidence that these government-sponsored cooperative R&D projects tend to occur in industries with a large minimum efficient scale in R&D in the 1970s, though this tendency is much weaker or non-existent in other decades. There is no evidence that projects tend to occur in industries which have appropriability problems. On the contrary, there is evidence in the 1970s that projects were formed in industries with strong appropriability conditions.

The Diversity of R&D Consortia and Firm Behavior: Evidence from Japanese Data

An empirical analysis of Japanese government-sponsored R&D consortia involving 213 firms over 13 years shows that the diversity of a consortium is associated with greater R&D expenditure by participating firms. Diversity is alternatively measured by the Montgomery (1982) index, based on 3-digit SIC codes, and Branstetter and Sakakibaras (1998) modification of the Jaffe (1986) patent portfolio based index. Copyright 2001 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Strategic Research Partnerships: Empirical Evidence from Asia

This paper evaluates the role Strategic Research Partnerships (SRPs) play in Asia. Specific Asian institutional settings influence the roles of SRPs. Japan is regarded as a forerunner in the practice of SRPs. In Japan, lack of spillover channels, limited opportunities for mergers and acquisitions, weak university research and pressure for internal diversification motivate firms to form SRPs. In Korea, SRPs are regarded as a means to promote large-scale research projects. In Taiwan, SRPs are formed to facilitate technological diffusion. Empirical findings on SRPs, focusing on government-sponsored R&D consortia in Japan, are summarized. Issues regarding SRP formation, their effect on R&D spending of participating firms, and productivity, are examined. Reference is made to alternative forms of measurement of SRPs and their potential application to Asian countries is assessed. Enhancing the capacity of policy-makers to assess the extent and contribution of SRPs is considered to be a priority.

Screening Spinouts? How Noncompete Enforceability Affects the Creation, Growth, and Survival of New Firms

This paper examines how the enforceability of noncompete covenants affects the creation, growth, and survival of spinouts and other new entrants. The impact of noncompete enforceability on new firms is ambiguous, since noncompetes reduce knowledge leakage but impose hiring costs. However, we posit that enforceability screens formation of within-industry spinouts (WSOs) relative to non-WSOs by dissuading founders with lower human capital. Using data on 5.5 million new firms, we find greater enforceability is associated with fewer WSOs, but relative to non-WSOs, WSOs that are created tend to start and stay larger, are founded by higher-earners, and are more likely to survive their initial years. In contrast, we find no impact on non-WSO entry, and a negative effect on size and short-term survival.

ENFORCING COVENANTS NOT TO COMPETE: THE LIFE-CYCLE IMPACT ON NEW FIRMS

We examine the impact of enforcing non-compete covenants (CNC) on the formation and performance of new firms using matched employer-employee data on 30 US states. To identify the impact of CNC, we exploit the inter-state variation in CNC enforcement along with the fact that courts do not enforce such covenants between law firms and departing lawyers in any state. Using a difference-in-difference-in-difference specification with law firms and firms that are not withinindustry spinouts as the baseline, we find states with stricter CNC enforcement have fewer, but larger within-industry spinouts that are more likely to survive their nascent years, and conditional on survival, grow faster during those years. These results are consistent with CNC enforcement having a selection effect on within-industry spinouts. Particularly, with stricter enforcement, only founders with higher-quality ideas and resources choose to overcome CNC-related barriers, which reduces entry rate but increases observed short-term performance of these spinouts.