Tomokazu Arita

Industrial alliances and firm location behaviour: some evidence from the US semiconductor industry

This study uses a log-linear model in order to analyse data on interfirm strategic alliances within the US semiconductor industry. The findings suggest that although the finding that the intensity of information transaction between firms is directly associated with geographical proximity, this effect is much less localized than would be usually expected. The results cast doubt on much of the existing qualitative literature on the nature of agglomeration externalities.

Industrial clusters, transactions costs and the institutional determinants of MNE location behaviour

This paper discusses the institutional and organizational assumptions underlying many of the currently popular notions of industrial clustering. By adopting a transactions costs perspective, we explain that there are three fundamentally different types of industrial cluster. We then discuss how the institutional differences between each of these clusters provide different possibilities for the location behaviour of the multiplant or multinational firm. Using two examples from the global semiconductor industry, we show that observations of industrial clusters must be interpreted very carefully when we are discussing multinational firms. The reason for this is that many simple clustering notions are predicated on assumptions which are often incompatible with multinational firms. The potential advantages of industrial clustering can only be understood when location strategies are considered with respect to the organizational and institutional logic of both the firm and the cluster.

Clusters and regional development: Some cautionary observations from the semiconductor industry

Abstract In this paper, we investigate the transactions-costs assumptions which are embedded in different understandings of industrial clustering. By carefully examining these assumptions we then proceed to investigate the extent to which industrial structure is related to questions of innovation. In order to do this we examine the case of the global semiconductor industry. After describing in detail the structure of the industry, we then employ a Geographical Information System in order to map the locations of the various plants and establishments which are part of three major multinational semiconductor producers. These unique mappings allow us to challenge some widely held views concerning the nature of the relationship between industrial structures, firm types and regional development.

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.

The Location of Technological Innovations within the Japanese Semiconductor Industry

Abstract Much of the current literature on hi-tech developments within the electronics industry tends to focus on the spatial and organisational arrangements evident in innovative clusters such as Silicon Valley. There are, however, many very different forms of spatial organisation which engender innovations within the semiconductor industry and these variations depend on the particular sub-sector of the semiconductor industry. In this paper we discuss the case of Japanese vertically integrated semiconductor producers. The paper will analyse data from over 200 Japanese semiconductor firms located in Japan. In particular, we will focus on the firms undertaking the wafer manufacturing processes. We develop a series of regressions which relate the various measures of production technology and innovation to firm plant and location characteristics at a prefecture level. Our results indicate that the spatial arrangements here are very different from those evident in the US or Europe.

Local Agglomeration and Global Networks Of the Semiconductor Industry: a Comparative Study of U.S. and Japanese Firms

The objective of this study is to examine the spatial organization of the U.S. and Japanese firms in the semiconductor industry. Our analyses give special consideration to the nature of the activities undertaken in the semiconductor production processes, the nature of the firm organization, the nature of the firm ownership, and the geographical area of analysis. Our approach is essentially diagrammatic in order to incorporate all the above factors. Therefore, unlike past studies, our study places special emphasis on tracing the connections between the whole spatial chain of production activities. The result is that different stages within the semiconductor production process have different geographical features, and that even the same vertically integrated sectors in the semi-conductor industry that differ by Japanese or U.S. ownership have quite different geo-graphical organizations.

Foreign Direct Investment, Knowledge Assets and the Economic Geography of Growth in the Asian BRIICS Countries

Increasingly, endogenous factors and processes are being emphasized as drivers in regional economic development and growth. This 15 chapter book is unique in that it commences by presenting five disciplinary takes on endogenous development from the perspectives of economics, geography, sociology, planning and organizational management.

Forum: An Overview of the Discussions at the Symposium “Metropolitan Peripheries in Japan and Germany”

Abstract Japanese-German Center Berlin and the Institute of Behavioral Sciences in Tokyo jointly hosted the symposium “Metropolitan Peripheries in Japan and Germany” on 28 and 29 October 2009 in Tokyo. This paper aims to summarize the presentations and discussions of the symposium into six major issues and then discuss the significance of the Japanese-German comparison as well as the future policy orientations of metropolitan peripheries in both countries.