Up-Grading Knowledge Intensive Industrial Clusters and Globalization.

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The empirical research on "Up-grading Knowledge-Intensive Industrial Clusters and Globalization" started as a study to find policy recommendation to overcome hollowing-out of industry after the bubble burst and globalization of Japanese economy. The research evolved as a study of innovation where variety of actors collaborated and formed a new informal organization, thus creating new technology for the future growth. The field work in an industrial cluster went in Nagoya, Fukuoka / Kitakyusyu, Silicon Valley, Toyama and other locations. Questionnaire survey was conducted for 18 areas of "the Knowledge Cluster Initiative" mandated by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT).We discovered that newly created organizations spanned their activities beyond a realm of "industry" and evidenced importance of the global network which exceeded cohesive characteristics of local economy and its proximity. Industrial policy relinquished its position to Innovation policy in some of strategic field of technology and industry. In Japan, innovation creation is based on the acquisition of a joint patent by plural companies. Our empirical research evidenced that Toyota was one of the most aggressive companies to acquire the joint patent. Both innovation creation and production technology were simultaneously pursued in Toyota.In relation to innovation and industrial accumulation, development of technology elements is pursued by a research institute of a company and a university. This type of collaboration is an engine of research and development in many clusters in Japan. J. Schumpeter assumed that it was a role of an entrepreneur that accomplished "new combination", but it became clear that there exist various actors such as the researchers in a company laboratory, researchers in universities, marketers, industrialists, and public servants. They acted as an engine to put existing elements of technology together and create "new combination."