Inter-regional Comparative Studies on Industry, Academia and Government Cooperation that Encourage Medium and Small Enterprises' Initiative in Industrial Agglomeration Areas

本项目的目的是通过区域间比较研究，明确工业、学术和政府合作（IAGC）在鼓励工业集聚地区中小企业（SMEs）倡议方面的现实。项目总结如下：产业集群理论是研究产业集聚地区IAGC的主要分析工具，它可以从价值链的角度把握区域的形态，但由于其对区域（定义和空间尺度）的概念存在歧义，难以将其真实（现状）应用于实证研究。日本的IAGC从上世纪90年代后半期开始进入全面发展阶段。1996年的《国家科技计划》在科技配套政策上具有划时代的意义。随着教育文化体育科学技术部（前文部科学省）和经济产业省（前产业通商省）就技术联络事务所（TLO）法案政策的妥协，政策的改善速度加快。虽然文部科学省自身在国立大学的放松管制政策上存在诸多问题，但为了推进IAGC，文部科学省坚持了METI的放松管制政策，特别是专利的放松管制政策和改善研究基金的竞争环境。另一方面，强化IAGC有利于企业内部资源较少的中小企业。为了应对创新竞争，许多中小企业在产品创新和工艺创新方面与IAGC进行了激烈的竞争。然而，在IAGC方面有所作为的只是中小企业中的上层企业。如果没有公共支持系统，许多较小的公司无法开展IAGC。我们调查的三个地区（Ymagata县的米泽市、长野县的中野市和东大阪市）的中小企业对IAGC非常感兴趣。然而，作为国家发展的趋势，企业自主创新的试点并没有推广到这三个领域的中小企业。随着中小企业间网络的发展和政府对三市产业集聚的扶持政策，三市中小企业在各自的IAGC中发展。特别是，在公共机构内支持机构间可持续发展目标的各种活动对按区域产生不同的机构间可持续发展目标发挥了重要作用。不同类型的中小企业对IAGC创新的反应不同。试生产和开发新零件的中小企业积极参与IAGC，而以前从事分包业务的中小企业则袖手旁观。因此，加强公共机构支持中小企业创业的活动，改变中小企业的经营类型，对促进中小企业创业具有重要意义。少

The purpose of this project is to make clear the realities of industry, academia and government cooperation (IAGC) that encourage small and medium enterprises' (SMEs) initiative in industrial agglomeration areas through inter-regional comparative studies. The summary of project is as follows.Industry Cluster Theory, a dominant and analytical tool to investigate IAGC in industrial agglomeration areas, can grasp the areas form viewpoint of the value chains, though it is difficult to apply the theory for what it is (status quo) to empirical studies because concepts of region (definition and spatial scale) in the theory are ambiguous. IAGC in Japan have shifted full swing since the after half of 1990s. The National Plan of Science and Technology (1996) was an epoch-making in the supporting policies. The compromise in policies for Technology and Liaison Office (TLO) Act between Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT, former Ministry of Education) and Ministry o … More f Economy, Trade and Industry (METI, former Ministry of Industry and Trade), have accelerated the improvement of policies. Though MEXT faces in its own many problems for deregulation policies of National University, MEXT has adhered to deregulation policies of METI in order to bring forward IAGC, especially the deregulation policy for patents and the improving competitive environment for research foundation. On the other hand, intensifying IAGC is to the good for SMEs that do not have many resources in intra-firm. In order to deal with the competition for innovation, many SMEs have straggled with IAGC for product innovations and process innovations. What work on IAGC, however, are only the upper class enterprises of SMEs. Many smaller firms cannot work on IAGC without the public supporting systems for them.SMEs in three our investigating fields (Yonezawa City in Ymagata Pref. Chino City in Nagano Pref. and Higashi-Osaka City) have consulted on IAGC with keen interest. As the national trends, however, the trials of IAGC have not spread to the smaller SMEs in the three fields. With the development of inter-firm networks in SMEs and the public supporting policies for agglomerating industries in the three cities, their SMEs have developed in their own IAGC. In particular, various activities for supporting IAGC in public agencies have had an important roll on generating different IAGCs by region. SMEs have made different responses to innovation through IAGC by types of business. SMEs with the trial production and developing new parts have worked on IAGC in a proactive manner, though SMEs with former subcontracting business have sit on their hands. Therefore, it is important for promoting IAGC to intensify activities for supporting IAGC in public agencies and change the type of buisiness of SMEs. Less